Ruby-B312: The Fall of Reach
by GreenTheRyno
Summary: A companion fic to my main one: Ruby-B312, though reading it is not necessary to understand this one. Basically WBY reacts to Halo:Reach through Ruby's eyes.
1. Winter Contingency

(A/N) And here's something new! Well… new-ish. Everyone probably knows how Reach ended up, and a lot of you have probably played the game. So, due to popular demand, I made this fanfic. For those of you unfamiliar, this is a tie-in with my other one: Ruby B-312. I'll give you the gist of what's going on if you haven't read it yet. Ruby disappeared from Remnant as a kid and has become a Spartan, specifically Spartan B-312… and now she's back on Remnant showing the rest of her team the events of Reach. Unlike my other fic, this one'll be entirely from Ruby's point of view. In the timeline of the fic, it takes place during Chapter Seven (Hyper Lethal Vector). I already know how many chapters there'll be, five to be exact (two missions per chapter on average, with three being in the last one).

Also, everything in **Bold** is describing the events on-screen, whereas everything else is describing the events within RWBY's secret bunker. Kinda (read: exactly) like another fic (Not mine): 'RWBY and JNPR watch the show', by Turniphater. It's good and I completely recommend it.

Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/23/19

Anyways, let's get this show on the road!

* * *

Chapter One – Winter Contingency

* * *

 **The screen flickers to life and a menu comes up. I select my deployment on Reach and it asks me what I want to do with it. I hit 'Review from start' and the screen fades to black. Moments later, the scene changes to my disembodied helmet looking at my face shortly before I turn it around and rest it on my lap. A pair of Falcons fly by and head towards a base in the distance. I fast-forward until we arrive.**

"So, this is Reach?" Blake asks.

"Yep, one of a few planets we colonized in the Epsilon Eridani system… And one of the most important inner colonies we had." I responded.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask about that. What's the distinction between an 'Inner' and an 'Outer' colony?"

"Proximity to Earth, that's the UNSC's homeworld. Inner colonies are close to it, though they're usually a lot more developed than the outer ones." She nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

 **I held my helmet at my hip as I walk past Jun sitting outside our briefing room.**

"Is he a Spartan, too?" My sister asked.

"Yea, that's Jun-A266. He's our sniper."

 **Two voices can be heard coming from inside and I see Emile sharpening his kukri as I enter. He looks at me for a moment before Kat blocks my entrance with her prosthetic arm.**

"Wait, is… is that a robotic arm?" My partner asked.

"Yeah, got the original blown off a while ago. Not sure when."

"And she's _okay_ with that?!"

I shrugged. "'bout as 'okay' as anyone can really be. Doesn't hurt that we've got some good prosthetics, though."

My sister sighed. "Yeah, I guess… Still couldn't imagine losing a limb though."

" **Commander." Kat says.**

"What accent is that?"

"Weiss, don't ask that. You won't know where I'm even referring to if I tell you. But to answer your question, she's got a Slavic accent of some kind. Not sure where she was born, though."

"Hmph," She crossed her arms. "fine. Carry on."

 **Carter and Jorge look over to me before the latter speaks up. "So that's our new number six." He raises an eyebrow. "Can't say I've seen that eye color before."**

" **Ugh, why is that the first thing everyone notices about me?" I said.**

"Come to think of it… you're actually the only one I've seen with silver eyes." Blake remarked. "Grey are somewhat common, but not silver."

"Heh, yeah. Supposedly, I'm one of the last of the 'Silver-Eyed Warriors', or so the legend goes."

"That… sounds familiar…" My sister said. "I think I read that one a couple times in our old book of fairy tales. Do you really think you can kill a Grimm just by looking at it?"

Weiss crossed her arms. "Well, if anyone on Remnant can, it's her."

"Heh, no arguments there. But in all seriousness, I don't really know. Every legend comes from somewhere, whether that be a single family that was _stupidly_ good at killing Grimm or if the silver-eyed powers do actually exist… I have no idea."

Blake hummed. "It might pay to find out."

"Yeah, that's exactly my train of thought. Because if the powers actually exist, then I _should_ be able to use them." I paused. "Anyways, we're getting off topic, let's get back to the show."

 **I step forward. "Spartan Ruby-B312 reporting for duty, sir."**

" **Kat?" Emile started while Carter acknowledged me with a nod. "You read her file?"**

" **Only the parts that weren't covered in the black ink." She responds.**

"Uhh, why would you put black ink on someone's file? That would just make it unreadable."

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. "Yeah… That's the point…"

At my sister's confused expression, Blake elaborated. "It means she's done some shady stuff in the past."

"Yeah, that's exactly right. And let's just leave it at that."

 **Carter turns back around to the terminal. "Anyone claim responsibility, sir?"**

" **ONI thinks it might be the local Insurrection," The voice starts. "five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from drydock. That cannot happen here… Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online Noble One."**

" **Sir, consider it done."**

" **Then I'll see you on the other side… Holland out." The colonel says before the image on screen winks out of existence.**

 **Carter grabs his helmet and turns to me. "Lieutenant."**

 **I remember nodding, but its impossible to see from the angle my helmet is at. "Yes, Commander?"**

" **I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader." He starts. "That's Kat, Noble Two, Emile and Jorge, Four and Five. You're riding with me, Noble Six."**

 **He throws his helmet on. "Not gonna lie to you Lieutenant, you're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. Me? I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. I've read your file, even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to. Now, I'm not a believer in the supernatural, but as long as you can live up to your reputation, we'll get along nicely. One more thing, we're a team. That lone wolf stuff? It stays behind. Are we clear?"**

 **I put on my helmet. "Crystal, sir."**

 **At this point, Jun finally speaks up. "Welcome to Reach." He says as we take off.**

 **I fast forward to the mid-flight briefing. "Listen up, Noble Team. We're looking at a downed relay outpost fifty clicks from Visegrad. We're gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it down and then Kat's gonna get it back online."**

 **The radio clicked, Kat's voice coming through. "Get me under the hood, Commander."**

" **Sir, why would rebels wanna cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?"**

" **You get a chance, maybe you can ask 'em, Jorge."**

 **A few seconds pass and we fly by a few wind turbines. "Commander, we just lost our signal with HQ."**

" **Backup channels?"**

" **Searching… nada, can't say what's jamming us."**

 **I inwardly sighed as he continued. "You heard her, dead zone confirmed. Command will** _ **not**_ **be keeping us company on this trip."**

" **I'm lonely already." Emile deadpanned.**

"I imagined someone more… _professional_."

I facepalmed. "He literally carved a skull into his helmet visor, Weiss, why would you expect anything short of a massive amount of edgelorderry?"

She raised her eyebrow. "I don't think that's a word."

"It is now." I shrugged, grinning.

 **Our Falcons start to orbit the AO and my eyes immediately shoot to the burning hulk of a Warthog. "Reading a distress beacon."**

" **Could be the missing troopers, let's check it out." Carter commands. "Put us down on the bluff." The Falcon starts to descend. "Jun, I want your eyes in the sky."**

" **Sir." He says in affirmation.**

" **Let's move, Six." He says, and I dismount after giving my affirmation. "Alright Noble Team, spread out." He says. I immediately start leaping over the cliffs instead of following everyone else. "Six, what are you doing?"**

" **Sir, you told us to spread out." I snarkily reply.**

 **I could practically hear his facepalm through the comms. "Just… wait for us…"**

" **Yes sir." I said, taking position behind a rock.**

"Why did I expect anything different from you?" My partner says as she shakes her head. "Wait a minute, how are you pausing the video without a remote of any kind?"

I tapped my head. "Neural implant."

"Of course it is…" She sighed.

 **Eventually, the rest of the team catches up. "Structure point three-four… looks clear from this angle." Jun says.**

" **Distress beacon's coming from just south of here, Commander. We're close." Kat says.**

" **Roger, Noble Team, move out."**

 **I approach the burned-out husk of the Warthog, inspecting it for any signs of what happened here.**

"That's… a lot of blood…" Yang observed. "Who did this?"

I sighed. "Just watch… You'll find out…"

"I'm not sure I want to, now…"

"…You don't."

" **Found the beacon." Emile says shortly before I turn to him. He tosses it to Kat.**

" **Make out any ID?" Carter asks.**

 **She inspects it for a moment. "Negative, but its military."**

" **So where are all the troopers?" Jorge asks over the comms.**

 **Kat speaks up next. "Why are we not seeing any explosives residue?"**

" **Noble Three, can you confirm any E-X residue in the area?" Carter asks.**

" **Ehhh, negative sir."**

 **There was a pregnant pause before Emile spoke up again. "Plasma, maybe."**

" **Can't be." Jorge started. "Not on Reach…"**

"What would that mean? He seems concerned." Blake asked.

"Humans don't use plasma weaponry."

She raises an eyebrow. "Why would Faunus use something the Humans don't?"

"Faunus don't exist outside of Remnant."

"Then who-"

"Just watch…"

 **A few back and forths continue as we make our way to and through the next building. "Noble leader, I'm reading heat sigs in the structure ahead." Jun announces.**

 **I approach a house and an unarmed man comes out, his hands up in the universal 'I surrender' gesture. "MOVE!" Emile commands. "On your knees! Now!"**

 **I quickly shove his shotgun down. "Check your aim, Spartan, they're civvies."**

 **He glares at me. "And how do you know that?" He says through likely gritted teeth.**

 **Jorge steps up. "She's right, look at them. They're just farmers, not rebels."**

 **"Look pretty scared, too." I observed. "Might help to not point a shotgun at them."**

"Are you _trying_ to antagonize him?" My partner asked.

I gave a noncommital- "Eh." -before resuming the feed.

 **"Lock it down." Carter commands before turning to Jorge. "Ask them what they're doing here."**

 **Jorge speaks in a language I don't understand, with the civilian responding in the same language. "Hiding, sir." The man continued. "Neighbors were attacked last night. He heard screams, gunfire, stopped around sunrise. Says something in the fields… killed his son."**

" **Some** _ **thing**_ **?" Carter said.**

" **Commander be advised, I'm reading heat signatures in the structure directly east of your position, over."**

" **Copy that." He says to Jun before again turning to our resident Spartan-II. "Get them back inside! Noble team let's move out!" We started jogging towards the structure. "Noble team, double time it."**

 **I nodded and burst into rose petals, screaming ahead of them. I burst into the structure and caught a very surprised looking skirmisher by its throat. I quickly crushed its windpipe.**

"What was that?!" Everyone practically screams.

"Kig-Yar, skirmisher class. It's an alien and it deserves to die."

"W- Why?! What was it doing?" My sister asked.

"Killing humans." I replied curtly.

"Oh, and I suppose it's okay when you do it?" My partner said.

"There's a difference. I was killing terrorists and criminals. _They_ kill everyone. Regardless of innocence, age, gender, affiliation… _everyone_."

" **Uhh, Noble six? What was that?"**

" **Later, Commander, I've made contact. Winter contingency."**

"What does that mean?"

"It means the Covenant have taken an interest in a UEG world. That alien that you saw earlier? Its race is a member of the Covenant, along with many others."

 **There was silence over the comms for a moment. "Triple time it, Noble!" I crept throughout the house and peered out the window…**

 **…only for a needle rifle round to graze my shields. I quickly dispatched the enemy and turned towards his friends outside; bursting into rose petals as I drew my knives. Seconds later, the entire enemy force lay dead at my feet.**

" **Enemy dropships inbound!" Jun said over the comms.**

 **I flicked the blue blood off my blades and rotated them into an icepick grip. "Let 'em come."**

"Do they not have aura?" Blake asked.

"No. Again, aura and semblances are Remnant-exclusive things."

 **The spirit disgorged its troops, but before the first ones could even set foot on the ground, I had jumped up and impaled one on my knife already. As I fell, I landed on a particularly unlucky Grunt, crushing it. I heard gunfire and turned to see my team had finally arrived, but I payed them no attention as I swept through the Covenant ranks.**

" **Stand down, Noble. Area is secure." Carter said.**

" **Well, looks like 'The Reaper of Draco' lived up to her name." Kat remarked.**

 **I sheathed my knives and retrieved an MA37 from my back. "Heh, yeah, guess you could say that."**

My partner raised an eyebrow. "'The Reaper of Draco'?"

"Yeah, that's actually the first time I used my aura in a battle… and god- _damn_ did I kill a lot of covvies… Heh, saved a couple thousand humans, too."

"I'm sensing a story here…"

"I'll spare you the gruesome details… but I ran out of ammo and suddenly a _scythe_ of all things was the best weapon available. Hence, the _reaper_ of Draco."

"Okay…" My sister started. "but why a scythe?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, just felt right at the time. I know I could've used my knives, but I was just drawn to _that_ particular weapon. Hadn't used one before nor have I used one since."

"That sounds like a calling to me."

I raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"Everyone with a large aura is drawn to a certain type of weapon, and they naturally have an easier time wielding it." My partner stated. "Perhaps it would be wise to acquire a scythe in the future. After all, those few that can truly master their usage generally become legends."

"Yeah!" My sister suddenly shouted. "I used to read about the Grimm Reaper all the time!"

I gave her a surprised look at her outburst, accidentally causing her to shrink away. "Maybe sometime down the line. But for now, I'd rather stick with what I know."

" **Boss, I'm reading heat sigs directly east of your position."**

" **Copy that, Six, you got point."**

 **I nodded and jogged forward. Some Grunts got in the way, but they were little better than bugs against a windshield.**

 **The Ultras surged forwards with me in their sights and a torrent of plasma washed over my position… …too bad it only held rose petals… Before they even knew what was going on, I had already downed one with a combination of assault rifle fire and a punch. The remaining two turned towards me, though I winked out of existence before they could fire. One of them fell, a knife in its skull, and the other exploded, a plasma grenade stuck to its chest.**

 **I scanned the area. "AO is clear."**

" **Roger Six, I'll join you and Jorge on the ground. Kat, Emile, I want you in the sky."**

" **Copy Commander. Noble Three, requesting airlift."**

 **I looked over the hill to see an unused flatbed truck. "I've got eyes on some transportation, requesting permission to acquire."**

" **Granted, Six. You got the wheel."**

"You can drive?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, yeah… Can't you, sis?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "…No… Cars are _way_ too expensive here…"

I shrugged, resuming the video.

 **I hopped in, seconds later, the suspension strained under Jorge's weight. Carter hopped into the passenger seat next to me. "All in."**

 **I took off down the dirt road, occasionally swerving to splatter a covvie or two.**

"Remind me to never get in a car with you."

"Heh, rather have your personal chauffeur do it, Ice Queen?"

She crossed her arms. "Quiet, you Oaf."

 **We continued along the road, clearing out a building or two on the way. "Boss, I'm picking up a distress signal." Jun said suddenly.**

" **Mayday, Three-Charlie-Six. Does anyone read?" The signal said. "We were attacked by Covenant forces, the Covenant is on Reach, repeat, the Covenant is on Reach."**

" **The Troopers?" Jorge asked.**

" **Let's move, Six." Carter started. "We've gotta find the source of that distress signal.**

 **I hopped back into the truck. "Noble leader, I've got possible friendly forces under attack northeast of your position, over."**

 **Seconds later, we barreled past three UNSC Troopers…**

 **…and straight into an Elite, pinning its corpse to a wall.**

My teammates winced. "I'm not sure whether to congratulate you on your efficiency… or to berate you on your brutality…"

I shrugged. "Eh, tomayto tomahto."

" **We located the troopers, requesting immediate evac!"**

" **Roger, redirecting Falcon."**

 **We quickly dispatched the remaining grunts and turned to address the survivors. "Spartans…" The leader said, seemingly in awe. "Corporal Travis, sir. Three-Charlie. It's the Covenant…"**

" **We know, Corporal, let's get you outta here." Carter responded, but before he could say anything else, a spirit descended and started disgorging its passengers.**

" **Be advised, we have a hostile dropship inbound."**

" **Way ahead ah ya there, eagle-eye." I deadpanned while withdrawing my knife from an Elite. I whipped around and emptied my magazine into a pack of grunts. With a kick, one's methane tank flew off and sent it careening into the air before exploding.**

"What do they have in those tanks that makes them explode?!"

"The little bastards breathe methane, they're basically walking grenades."

 **Another dropship opened up right as I cycled the bolt of my rifle, and I let loose immediately. The reinforcements fell just as quickly as they landed… and with several new bullet holes in each one. The spirit pulled away and was quickly replaced by a Falcon.**

" **Transport, LZ is clear. Move in for evac." Carter commanded.**

" **Affirmative, transport inbound." Jun said as the helicopter landed.**

 **The craft wobbled a little bit as it took off and flew us to our destination. "Noble Two, sitrep."**

" **We're at the relay outpost. Door's locked. Mechanism's been flash fused."**

" **Can you beat it?"**

" **I dialed up my torch to cut a way through." She paused. "Gonna take some time…"**

" **Okay. We're en route to your location." I fast forwarded through the rather boring flight to the point where we landed. "On the double Noble! No mercy!"**

 **I charged out into a group of Jackals, shoulder checking one into another before turning and unloading my magazine into several. A Grunt tried to sneak up on me, but I spun around and literally kicked its head off.**

The team once again winced. "Okay, _that_ is too brutal."

"Heh, rule number one when it comes to fighting Covenant: There is no such thing as too brutal."

" **How we doin' Kat?"**

" **Taking a little longer than I hoped. I'm about half-way through the door."**

 **A spirit descended, its occupants meeting the same fate as the many, many that came before. Even though we were well and truly holding them off, the dropships just kept coming.**

"Gods… how many _are_ there?!" Weiss practically yelled.

"I could just say 'Too many' and leave it at that… buuuut at this point, there's probably over ten thousand covvies on the planet… 'course we didn't know that yet." The rest of my team collectively paled.

" **Kat…" Carter deadpanned.**

" **Juuuust about… there! We're in." She announced.**

" **Everybody inside! Go! Go! Go!"**

 **We all charged for the door as it started to close, and I slipped in about two seconds before it fully sealed.**

"Cutting it a bit close, wouldn't you say?" Blake said.

I waved her off. "Eh, I had plenty of time."

 **The door emitted a snap-hiss type sound, followed by a loud mechanical ratchet. The interior door opened. "Can't see a thing… Noble Six, turn on your night vision."**

 **I rounded a corner before Kat spoke up. "Noble Six, search that body."**

"Is… is she always so callous with _dead bodies_?!" Weiss practically screamed.

I sighed. "It's a thing you get used to…"

 **I looked over to Carter, who was tending to a wounded marine. "Where's the rest of your unit?"**

"… **We got split…" The man hoarsely said. "I don't think they… It sounded bad on the comms."**

" **Alright Corporal, stay put. We'll get you a combat surgeon."**

 **I quickly searched the body and found a chip of some kind. "'Ey Tech Girl!" Kat immediately turned around. "Got somethin' for ya."**

My partner threw her hands up in exasperation. "What is it with you and the nicknames?!"

I shrugged, ignoring her comment.

 **She seemingly growled at me before swiping the chip out of my hand.**

" **I've got a live one over here!" Jorge announced, dragging out an aggressive woman who was speaking in a foreign language. "C'mon, out cha come." She threw several, albeit ineffective, punches at him, desperately trying to escape. "Its alright, we're not gonna hurt you!" Jorge practically screamed at her. "Keep still, and I'll release you." He said as she finally started to calm down, uttering a last sentence which caused my fellow Spartan to tense...**

 **…right as an Elite Zealot jumped down and slashed at him with an energy sword.**

 **He ducked out of the way as I started firing with my rifle. It moved to grapple me, though I only left a cloud of rose petals where it grabbed. In the split second it was confused, I bashed its skull in with the butt of my weapon.**

" **That tango blew past me, permission to engage?"**

" **Negative, Four, stay on the entrance. Two, handle her! Five and Six, clear the hole!" Jorge and I moved to the open door one of the Zealots escaped through, with the big guy sealing the entrance. I grabbed a DMR off of a nearby wall and immediately started headshotting the Grunts and Jackals that were sent to oppose us.**

"And that, kids, is how you deal with Jackals." I said, smugly.

"Wha-"

"Shoot 'em in the hand, then when they flinch, headshot the bastards."

"…Efficient…" My partner said, silently nodding.

 **A single Grunt tried to run, but I reached around its tank and snapped its neck. "There's more. Flush 'em out, I'll keep you covered." Jorge said.**

 **I nodded and charged around the corner, shoulder checking a Grunt in the process. Its friends looked at me in trepidation and started to back away. "Boo." I joked… …but then three of them dropped their weapons and ran.**

"Seriously? Even _aliens_ are scared of you?!" My partner yelled.

I shrugged. "Eh, they're Grunts. They'd probably run from a butterfly."

 **The single remaining Zealot came out from hiding, an energy sword in hand. It roared and charged… and was promptly cut down with a combination of Jorge's machine gun and my DMR.**

"Why didn't he attempt to parry the bullets?"

"Because to the rest of the universe, parrying bullets is actually impossible."

My partner deflated. "Oh."

"I've heard that energy swords can _block_ bullets, but I've never seen an Elite try it before."

 **I quickly dispatched the remaining Grunts. "Noble Five reporting. Targets neutralized."**

" **Kat needs you to reset a junction. Do it and get back here." I nodded to myself, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't see me, and pressed the glowing green button on the wall in front of me. We walked back to where everyone else was, but I paused just after I entered the doorway.**

 **I tilted my head down to see the Trooper on the floor. "Hey." I greeted, kneeling down.**

 **The soldier looked startled. "Uhh… Hi?"**

 **I kneeled down, taking off my helmet and setting it aside, though it was still facing him. "How bad is it?" I asked, grabbing my medkit from my leg.**

" **P- Pretty bad…" he wheezed. "Couple bolts of plasma to the chest…"**

 **I got out my knife and started cutting away his burned BDU, causing him to wince as I peeled it away.**

"Oh gods!" Weiss screamed. "That's… the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"Yeah… plasma burns aren't pretty…"

"'Aren't pretty'?! I feel like I need to vomit!"

"Heh, I'd tell you to take it outside, buuut that might be a bit difficult because of the car on top of us at the moment…"

 **I gave him some basic medical attention, though I couldn't do much with the supplies on hand. "That's about the best I can do. Should keep ya together while we wait for evac."**

 **He sighed and gave a weak smile. "Thanks…" He breathed out before his eyes closed.**

" **What'd you do?" Carter asked as I put my helmet back on.**

" **Gave him some sedatives after bandaging him up." I sighed. "Hopefully he doesn't dream…"**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you want him to dream? Surely, he'd wake up more refreshed."

"Weiss… you don't know the first thing about this stuff, do you?"

"I know enough." She said, haughtily.

"No… you don't… If he dreamed, he'd probably have the worst nightmares of his life."

She blinked. "…Oh…"

"Yeah, anyways, that's the end of that OP. The actual battle of Reach doesn't start for a day or two yet. You guys want me to fast forward to our next battle or…?" I said, leaving the question open.

"I… kinda want to see how you explained aura to them…" My sister said.

 **I fast-forwarded to the requested part, which happened to be right when we arrived back at the base. "Alright, Six. Tell me, what was that back there?" Carter asked.**

" **Yes, I don't remember you being able to do that at Camp Currahee." Kat remarked**

" **To be honest, I don't know. No one does, actually. The long and short of it is that I can burst into rose petals to move extremely quickly across the battlefield. Also, I have a natural energy shield."**

"Natural energy shield? That's-"

"Uninformed? Misleading? Yeah, kinda. But to be fair, I _did_ say that no one else knew what the fuck I had. To them, I just had superpowers for seemingly no reason."

" **A…** _ **natural**_ **energy shield?" Kat asked.**

" **Yeah, kinda awesome, right? Well, it does have a drawback…" They stared at me in anticipation. "I can** _ **feel**_ **every single thing that pings off the damn thing as if it hit my skin."**

 **Kat visibly winced and rubbed her robotic arm. "That… does not sound pleasant…"**

" **Not in the slightest, Tech Girl… Thankfully, my natural shield is actually under my normal one."**

" **Well, at least there's some silver lining… Enough chatter for the time being. Rest up, It'll be a while before interplanetary comms get back up, we're on our own for the time being." He said. "We've got a big job ahead of us."**

 **We all gave our 'Yes sir's before the screen went black, my helmet only seeing the inside of a locker.**

"That was… uhhh…" My sister said, not .

"Yeah, well… I didn't really know about aura yet, so this was kinda the best explanation I could give."

"It's still an underwhelming reaction on their part." Weiss commented.

I shrugged. "My guess is that they were content with finally having some bullshit on _their_ side, for once." I sighed. "Well, that's it for now. You guys wanna watch the next one?"

They all nodded, and I started fast forwarding.

* * *

(A/N) And there's the first chapter done! Hopefully everyone enjoyed. Not really much else to say here...

The next one is titled 'Force Recon'. See ya guys then!


	2. Force Recon

(A/N) Damn, just a few minutes short of being on time with when I said I'd publish it... Oh well, better than a few hours, am I right?

* * *

Chapter Two – Force Recon

* * *

 **After several minutes of fast forwarding, we came upon my ride aboard a Falcon en route to Sword Base. "-urrent LZ is too hot."**

" **Roger that. Dot, standby to receive and respond."**

" **Yes commander."**

"That… sounded artificial." Weiss remarked.

I nodded. "Yep, that's Auntie Dot, she's the dumb AI assigned to Noble Team."

She raised an eyebrow. "Dumb AI?"

"Yeah, pretty much just an extremely complicated computer program."

" **Coordinates received, initiate immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a corvette-class Covenant vessel. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base."**

 **The Falcon banked left over a mountain range. "Alright people," Carter addressed. "we're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry, give those Troopers a hand. Kat, Six, you're out here. Jorge, Emile, you're out next, get prepped."**

 **Kat cocked her pistol. "Let's move, Lieutenant!" She said shortly before we both jumped out of the aircraft.**

"You just jumped out of a moving airship?!" My sister yelled. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Heh, relax, sis. I've done _far_ stupider than that… actually, you'll get to see me fall from orbit later on."

"Wha-?!" I interrupted her by resuming the recording.

" **Kat, Six, push back the attack on Sword Base. Find out what we're dealing with." Carter said over comms.**

" **Roger that!" Kat answered. "We're your strike team."**

 **I didn't answer them, instead choosing to charge up a ramp on the left. A pair of Jackals opposed me, though they were swiftly dispatched by a grenade.**

"That's another good way to deal with 'em. Those shields don't really protect against grenades all too well." I commented.

"Noted." My partner remarked.

 **I quickly took up a position on the battlements and began sniping with my DMR. All the Grunts fell in quick succession, their leaders wondering why they suddenly don't have cannon fodder anymore. I threw a grenade at another group of Jackals and it ricocheted off a shield…**

 **…only to explode in the face of an Elite Minor. I quickly dropped it with one well placed shot and went back to scoop up some more grenades from a fallen marine. I** **n the distance, I spotted a phantom disgorging more troops…**

 **…only to be taken down by my DMR as they were falling to the ground. I switched to my assault rifle and charged an Ultra that was in my path. It fired a few concussion rounds at me, though I dodged them with ease. It threw a powerful kick at me and I sidestepped while bringing a knife into its exposed hip. It winced in pain and I used the distraction to plunge my knife into the back of its skull, killing it.**

 **I charged forward once again, this time meeting more minors and jackals. Less than a minute later, they all lay dead and riddled with 7.62mm rounds. "AO secure, awaiting orders." I said, looking around. "Hey uhh, there's a target locator down in that ordinance box. We got any support available?"**

" **Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am." Came the response.**

 **I picked it up with one hand, keeping my assault rifle handy with the other. I stepped out of the base and immediately saw a Warthog get blown up by a pair of Wraiths. "Got a pair of Wraiths! Markin' 'em now!" I announced as the locator activated. Seconds later, the tanks were destroyed by orbital artillery.**

Weiss jumped. "Gods! Where did that come from?!"

"Orbit." I answered curtly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why not just use that constantly?"

"Because without a locator, orbital strikes are _very_ imprecise. Hell, its a bad idea to even be within a _mile_ of an undesignated orbital strike."

She deflated. "Oh. Carry on, then."

" **Good shot Six, Pelican inbound with transport." She said seconds before a ship descended, depositing a Warthog before flying off again.**

" **Hey Spartan." A female Trooper said in a flirty voice.**

" **Heh, hey yourself." I said, looking at the marine.**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously flirting?"

"Heh, maaaaaaybe… Why? You jealous?"

Her face reddened. "N- No, just… unusual is all…"

 **She blinked. "Oh, uhh… you're a woman… I uhh… I don't swing that way… sorry…"**

" **Well I do." I said, causing her to freeze for a moment.**

Weiss facepalmed. "You're incorrigible."

I smiled and shrugged. "Eh, I try."

" **Oh relax, I'm here ta shoot covvies and lots of 'em. The ladies can wait." I hopped into the driver's seat.**

 **Suddenly, command came over the comms. "The old Farragut Station has its own comms array, that should bring us back online with command. Airview Base has an anti-air battery that'll help clear the skies."**

" **AA gun is to the west," Kat started. "Comms array is to the east, let's roll."**

" **Alright, hold on back there!" I said as I gunned it. Several twists and turns later, we arrived at Airview base. I hit a jump just right and sent the Warthog onto the roof of the base, crushing an Ultra in the process.**

Yang stiffened. "Remind me to _never_ get in a car with you."

Weiss nodded in agreement. "I did not know it was possible to be such a reckless driver." She remarked.

"Heh, 'reckless driver' is such a crude label… I prefer 'Sunday Driver'." I giggled.

 **I looked at Kat, who was staring at me. "That shouldn't even be possible…"**

 **I shrugged. "Eh, I'm a super-powered super-soldier, why the hell not?" I remarked as I got out activated the AA gun. Meanwhile, the Trooper was absolutely wrecking any and all Covenant infantry with her chaingun. Soon enough, the area was clear. "Okay, now how're we gonna get this thing down?" I said right before a Pelican dropped off another Warthog. "Well, that's _one_ solution…" I motioned for the Trooper to follow us and we mounted up in the 'Hog.**

 **We came across a clearing in the mountain pass containing a couple of Ghosts, though they were dispatched quickly. "Hope that comms array has a working generator." Kat remarked as we approached one of the buildings. Just as I was about to stop and dismount, a Revenant peaked its head around the corner and fired off a shot.**

 **I dodged and gunned it straight for the vehicle in question, intending to use it as a ramp. Just as the 'Hog impacted and started to go airborne, I leaped out and kicked the passenger in the head, crushing its skull. Before the driver even had time to realize its partner was dead, I had already stabbed it five times in the head.**

"Why can't you just kill things like normal Human beings…"

I stared at my partner for a moment… …before bursting out laughing. "I know what cha mean, Ice Queen, but _man_ do you have to work on your wording. And to answer your question: normal people are boring."

" **Six! Where did you go?! Are you alright?!"**

" **Yeah, I'm good, Kat. By the way, we've got a brand-new Revenant to add to our arsenal." I said as I fired off a shot into the building that was swarming with covvies, killing a sniper team. I dismounted, leaving a plasma grenade on a console to destroy it, and dashed into the building. Inside, I saw several Elites and a few grunts, all were dispatched within a minute of me entering.**

 **On the wall, I saw a lever connected to the generator that was also in the room with me. I quickly pulled it and breathed a sigh of relief when the machine whirred to life. I heard a Spirit pass overhead and I peaked out the window to see what we'd be dealing with. Its troop bays opened, and I picked off a number of the skirmishers and grunts that descended.**

 **A few of them got through though, and I charged forward to meet them with a hail of assault rifle fire. Within seconds, they all lied dead or dying as I climbed the tower to activate the comms array.**

" **Spartans, this is Sword Control, thought you could use some mobile firepower." He said as a Gauss 'Hog was dropped from a Pelican.**

" **Aww yea! Christmas has come early!"**

" **You are _way_ to cheery about this, Six."**

"I agree with Kat." Blake remarked. I threw another can of tuna at her. "I don't agree with Kat."

"That's better."

" **What? A Reaper can't enjoy her job?" I said sarcastically.**

 **Kat audibly sighed. "Just get in the 'Hog…"**

 **I shrugged. "Alright, whatever."**

" **Good work, Spartans, return to Sword Base. The rest of your team is inbound, imminent."**

 **Carter butted in on the comms. "Noble, be advised. Covenant corvette moving into position. Kat, Six, get here quick. We'll meet you inside."**

 **The rest of the way was paved with a few Revenants, though they were one-shotted by the gauss turret on our 'Hog.**

"If that weapon is so powerful, why not equip all of these… Warthogs, I believe you called them, with their weapon?" Weiss asked.

"Production costs." I answered. "Gauss 'Hogs are well over triple the cost of a normal one. Also, not every Warthog crew is gonna find themselves up against enemy vehicles."

She shrugged. "I suppose that makes sense."

 **I walked up to the gate, pressing a button and opening the doors.**

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, why do they have the button to open the gate on the _outside_?"

I blinked. "To be honest, I don't know. It kinda slipped my mind at the time."

" **We're stalled in the tower atrium, Kat, where are you?" Jun asked over comms.**

" **Opening the gate now."**

 **The doors opened and I drove the 'Hog through, though it was stopped by some concrete barriers. "Heh, is that the best you can do, ONI?" I gloated…**

 **…before punching one of the barriers apart with my bare hands…**

Weiss looked me straight in the eyes. "Oaf." She said. "That is all."

 **I got back in the 'Hog and drove it through the wreckage, splattering enemy troops along the way. We entered the lower part of the base to see a pair of-**

"What are those?!" Blake yelled, her bow flat against her head.

"Hunters." I said. "Inside those suits of armor are hundreds of worms."

"Kill it with fire!" Yang practically yelled.

I shrugged. "Fire works pretty well if you can get it hot enough. Heh, maybe your semblance could come in handy there, sis."

She visibly shuddered. "Oh gods, please no…"

 **With the help of the Gauss 'Hog, the hunters were dispatched easily along with the rest of the troops. "Let's get to the atrium, we have to go through the security office." Kat said as we boarded an elevator.**

 **The lights flickered as the elevator came to a stop. "Corvette's hittin' this base hard." Emile said over comms.**

" **Where's our orbital support? Got to be four platforms that could take it out with a single MAC round."**

" **ONI probably doesn't want the wreck of a covvie ship on top of their base." I responded.**

 **"Heh, they've been scramblin' for a ship for decades now, and when one gets delivered to their doorstep, they want us to drive it away." Emile said.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "How long has this war been going on?"

I hummed. "Let's see... started in '25, so... twenty-seven years now."

"Twenty-seven years of war..." She sighed. "Gods..."

 **Suddenly the doors opened, and a robotic voice sounded throughout the halls. "Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence. An ONI representative will be with you shortly." A few Covenant infantry lined the interior…**

 **…though we quickly made sure they lined the walls, instead.**

" **I doubt that very much." Kat snarkily remarked.**

" **Heh, you'd be surprised. There's probably a spook or two hiding in the goddamn walls."**

 **The robotic voice boomed again. "Lieutenant, you have been cleared for access."**

 **We came to another door, which slowly opened. "Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure she gets there." Carter commanded.**

 **A couple minutes of rampage later, I opened the last door, this one leading to the roof. I fired into seemingly thin air…**

 **…and hit a cloaked Elite.**

The rest of my team jumped, and I offered an explanation. "If you look closely, at where I shot, you'd be able to see a slight distortion in the air around where I shot." I said before rewinding a few seconds.

"There!" Blake shouts, pointing at another cloaked Elite.

I smiled. "Good, that might come in handy one day." I sighed. "Hopefully not, but it still might…"

 **A few headshots later, and the cloaked Elites were dispatched. I picked up a rocket launcher and started dispatching the enemy aircraft. One by one, they were destroyed, and we finally got a good look at the corvette.**

My partner gasped. "What… What is that?!"

"Covenant Corvette, SDV-class to be specific." I replied.

"That's a _corvette_?!"

"Yeah. Sure it's a heavy corvette, but still. Covenant ships are much bigger than UNSC ones."

" **Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot." The commander said. Two fighters appear and the corvette tries to make a hasty retreat… key word being 'tries'. A couple seconds later, a MAC round pierces through its hull and sends it to the bottom of the lake it was flying over.**

The team was shocked to say the least. "Heh, you guys seem surprised."

Blake blinked. "That… That's an understatement."

"HOW?!" Weiss shouted. "How did a ship that… _gargantuan_ , be destroyed in ONE SHOT?!"

"That's a Super MAC for ya. Fires a three-thousand-ton slug at four percent the speed of light." I giggled. "Destroys one covvie ship, and the one behind it, and then cripples the one behind that one!" I tsked. "That shot was scaled down, though. Don't wanna drop a 51-gigaton bomb on ourselves, now would we?"

They all blinked. "…Let's just... continue…" Blake supplied.

" **Beautiful, ain't it?" Jorge asked. "Someone should take a picture. Nice work, by the way."**

" **Heh, I aim to please. Not so bad yourself, old man."**

 **He looks at me but before he could retort, Carter buts in. "Five, Six, get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debriefing and command's saying we're all hers."**

" **Repeat, sounded like you said Halsey."**

" **I did."**

" **Copy that, on our way." He paused. "Don't need command to tell me, been all hers half my life."**

 **I fast forwarded to the point where we got to the meeting, though it had already started and Halsey seemed to be chewing out Carter. "I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep. What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-" She paused. "Jorge, it's been too long."**

" **Ma'am." He responds.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Did he just call her 'mom'?"

"Nope, his accent just makes 'ma'am' sound like 'mom'."

" **What have you done with my armor?"**

" **Just some… additions I've made." He said.**

" **Indeed." She turned back to Carter. "Visegrad Relay. Its datacenter was home to one of my xenoarchaeologists, professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death."**

 **Carter stepped forward.** " **If he was a civilian male in his mid-to-late-sixties, he died with a Covenant energy sword through his abdomen."**

" **Elites then?"**

" **They engaged us as well." Jorge cut in. "It was just uhh… It was just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"**

" **Irrelevant."**

Blake rolled her eyes. "Real boss of the year."

"Heh, tell me about it. That's ONI for ya. There's a reason everyone calls us spooks."

" **The Elites, tell me more about them."**

" **Three. Zealot class. One got by us, the leader from the looks of him."**

" **Zealots." She said. "You're certain?"**

" **Their armor configuration matched."**

" **Shield strength too." I cut in. "Didn't save 'em from a knife, though."**

 **She gave me a weird look before Carter continued. "I gave the order not to pursue. Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."**

" **Your primary objective? Commander, are you a puppet or a Spartan?" She said condescendingly.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "So what she's saying is that she's disappointed that someone who had no idea a target was of high value chose not to kill said target?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

" **Ma'am?"**

" **There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe Elite advanced teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts say that they are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-Class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there… and you let them get away."**

" **Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to."**

" **Like warning the planet." Kat chimed in.**

 **Halsey paused for a moment, likely considering something. Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a 'latchkey discovery'. Latchkey… Not a word he would use lightly… So lets hope that the data module your Lieutenant-Commander** _ **stole,"**_ **She shot a glare at my teammate. ",** **contains it."**

"Okay, she's starting to get on my nerves." Weiss commented.

"Heh, not even commenting on the fact that Kat stole something?"

"To be honest, she likely didn't know she was supposed to return it."

I shrugged. "Well, you got a point there."

" **Kat?" Carter asked, warningly.**

" **Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents." Halsey said, sliding out an exchange box. "As I am with any unauthorized tap." Kat approached the drop box and proceeded to recklessly drop the data inside. "That data is classified tier one. I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."**

 **"Maybe you'd like to join her." Carter interjected.**

 **This got the doctor's attention. "I'm sorry?"**

" **We're currently under emergency planetary directive, Winter Contingency. I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment."**

" **Are you _threating_ me, Commander?" Halsey asked accusingly.**

" **Just making a reading suggestion, ma'am." He turned to the rest of us. "Let's move, Noble Team." He ordered, and I started fast-forwarding to the next mission.**

 **The next image that they saw was one of me overlooking a very large gorge… …while standing on an equally narrow ledge.**

Yang shivered. "Woah…"

"Don't like heights, sis?"

"N- No, I'm fine with them. I just… Its weird…"

 **After a Phantom moved by, I looked up at the sky, finally giving them a good view of Reach's dual moons.**

My companion's jaws collectively hit the floor. "Its…" Yang started.

"…Breathtaking." Weiss finished.

"Heh, just wait 'til you get to see it from orbit."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You go up there during this?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, earlier I said I fell from orbit… kinda need to get up there first before you can fall…"

"I suppose so."

" **Recon Team Bravo reporting in. Three and Six in position. Its starting to get crowded up here, Kat." Jun said.**

" **Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary."**

" **Copy that." He chuckled. "When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary." He pulled out a special magazine of sniper rounds. "Here. You may need these. High-velocity armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at two thousand yards… And they aint cheap."**

" **Heh, you know just what to get a girl, don't'cha?"**

 **He looked at me. "Don't make this weird, Six." We continued to skirt around the ledge until we came to a tree. He turned back to me. "I'll be in touch."**

 **I nodded and started to skid down the slope, landing with a soft thud.**

" **Recon Bravo, sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance." Kat said over the comms.**

" **Covenant can block our instruments?" Jun asked.**

" **So it would seem." She said. "And Command wants to know what they're hiding."**

 **I rounded a corner and came face-to-face with an Elite minor… well… face-to-back, that is… "Elite," Jun said. "he's yours. Do it quiet." I stalked forward and readied my knife. Seconds later, the galaxy had one less Elite to worry about. "Not bad." Jun commented.**

" **Heh, knives are my specialty."**

" **I thought that was scythes, Reaper." Kat commented.**

"Maybe we should start calling you that, sis." Yang said with a grin.

I shrugged. "Ya can if ya want, I've got nicknames for all of you, it'd be kinda bad if I said you couldn't have one for me."

" **Oh har-de-har-de-har, Tech Girl." I commented as I mercilessly slaughtered several sleeping grunts.**

 **I continued forward for a few seconds before Jun spoke up again. "Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for contact report."**

" **Standing by to copy, over."**

" **We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. Is this what we're looking for, Kat?"**

" **Negative, too small. You're not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion but keep moving."**

" **You heard her, Six, drop those tangos."**

" **Heh, with pleasure." I put a bullet in the brain of an important-looking Elite, alerting the rest of the compound to my presence. Three Rangers activated their jump packs. Unfortunately for them, I was** _ **very**_ **good at shooting clay pigeons. Three shots later, three dead Elites thudded onto the ground.**

 **Just as I was finishing off with the grunts, a Phantom appeared. "Looks like we really pissed them off."**

"You don't say…" Weiss remarked dryly.

" **Heh, well, they really pissed** _ **me**_ **off when they set foot on this planet!" I shouted while erasing a Covenant formation from existence. "Eh, that wasn't so hard. Let's move on." I commented before finding a hidden door. I stalked through, activating my active camouflage while I was at it. When I came through, I saw an Elite Minor cluelessly looking at the sky… …and now falling to the ground with a new hole in his head.**

 **I quickly claimed the tower he was on for myself and, skirting around it, found three more Elites to kill. One high-ranking, two Minors, and all three now dead. I jumped down into the confused mess of Grunts and flourished my knives, cleaving each one into almost unrecognizable bits.**

 **I strode forward into an open canyon. As I reached the end, I heard a deep, guttural, growling, along with the panicked screams of Grunts. I poked my head out to see what was up, but I certainly didn't expect to see two Guta roaming around slaughtering Covenant forces.**

"W- What is that?!" Blake shouted.

"I forgot the name, but its native to Reach… so they're probably extinct now. Kinda sad, these two seemed perfectly happy killing covvies."

"Wait, you said that there were no Grimm outside of Remnant, so does this… other version of Humanity possess any means to deal with such creatures?"

"Weiss… If there is anything that Humans specialize in, its killing things. Also, there are settlements in the area, meaning that they have some way to defend themselves should one of those creatures attack."

 **I killed everything in sight with relative ease. "Kat, you pick any of that up?" Jun asked.**

" **Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature called 'Guta'."**

" **Gweeta? Well, that's an interesting name."**

 **Both Kat and Jun were silent for a moment before the latter spoke up. "Six, there's a path up ahead. Looks like it goes through the rocks, let's take it." I obeyed and moved through a small canyon. After a few seconds, a familiar sound erupted in the distance. "Gunfire. Magnums, security sidearms, standard issue."**

 **I surged forwards, hoping to rescue the human forces. "Kat, I found some civilians assaulting a pump station of some kind, advise."**

" **Copy, move to assist, they may have the intel we need."**

" **Got it." I said as I took aim at an Elite and pulled the trigger. A few more shots, and all the alien leadership lay dead. I charged forward, flourishing with my knives and decimating the lesser infantry. A phantom appeared above us and started disgorging its troops, though they met the same fate as their predecessors.**

 **With the area cleared, the civilians approached. "Little more action than we're used to. You Spartans are good in a fight."**

" **Heh, ya don't say…"**

 **Jun, just joining us now, addressed them. "What are you doing here? This whole area's supposed to be evacuated."**

" **Didn't like leavin' it to someone else to protect our home, so we came back… For this." He motioned to a pair of ordinance boxes which opened, revealing rocket launchers, snipers, and DMRs.**

"Where did they get all these military-grade weapons?" Weiss asked.

"Remember the Insurrection?" She nodded. "Best case scenario, these guys stole from them. Worst case, they _are_ the them."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said they were the worst kind of terrorists?"

"I did. But there's one funny thing about a common enemy. It makes the fastest of friends out of the worst of enemies… And what greater motivator than your home being attacked by an infinite swarm of alien nightmares hell-bent on the extinction of your entire race?"

"I guess you have a point there."

" **We have 'em hidden, all over the territory." He finished.**

" **You know, this stuff is stolen." Jun remarked, dryly.**

" **What? You gonna arrest me?"**

 **I waved him off. "Nah. But we miiiiiiight just commandeer them." I said, hoisting a rocket launcher to my shoulder. Another Phantom soared overhead. "Alright boys, lemmie show you a little thing I call…" I took aim as the bay doors on the dropship opened. "…Spawn camping." I said as I fired off a pair of rockets into the exposed troop bay. Seconds later, they exploded within the unarmored interior of the dropship, starting a chain reaction that ended with the entire ship exploding.**

Weiss facepalmed. "Seriously, I think you might have some kind of… addiction to explosions."

I giggled. "And what's wrong with that? We've all got our vices, after all."

"Oh? And what would that be?" my partner asked with a disbelieving smirk.

I grinned. "Well, I know you have a copy of Ninjas of-"

She thrust her hand over my mouth, silencing me. "Ninjas of Faith! Right, yes… I am _very_ religious." She chuckled nervously.

Yang gave us a curious glance whereas Blake's face flushed red.

" **A bit dramatic, aren't we?" Jun remarked.**

 **I shrugged while reloading. "Eh, gotta have at least** _ **some**_ **fun." Two more dropships appeared, one getting destroyed in the same manner, with me sniping the passengers of the other one as they fell to the ground. What few stragglers that managed to make landfall were swiftly dispatched by my blades.**

" **Noting here but that lake." Jun remarked.**

" **Road leads to a hydroelectric plant, but the gate doesn't work." The civilian informed.**

" **Alternate route?"**

" **We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons-"**

" **Basically, everything the UNSC considers contraband." Jun interrupted.**

"… **Basically." He agreed.**

" **Heh, well, how's about this: You show us the riverbed, and we kick the ever-living shit out of any alien bastards we find over there."**

"So eloquent." Weiss sarcastically remarked.

"Eh, I say what needs to be said. No point in sugar-coating it."

" **Deal." He said, starting down the path.**

 **Eventually, Jun asked a question. "Where does this riverbed lead?"**

" **Straight to the hydro plant. We dammed this river up forty-five years ago, plant powers every settlement in the territory… Shame if it all gets wasted…" He trailed off.**

" **Doing what we can." Jun said before halting. "Hold up. Covvie dropship, take cover!" We waited a few moments while the Phantom passed. "Okay, clear. Let's move." A few minutes of walking later and we came upon the dam. "Kat? Are you seeing this? Covenant structure. Kind of a big pylon. Heavily fortified."**

" **That's the source of our dark zone."**

" **Okay. Consider it gone." Was Jun's response.**

" **Negative. Stick a remote det charge on it. Command is planning something big. They say that pylon dies at dawn."**

 **I fired off a few shots at a now-dead group of Elites, startling their underlings. I took out my pistol and started laying into them, each shot resulting in a grunt falling to the ground, a new hole in its head. Eventually, the area was secured.**

" **Alright Jun, set the charges. I'll watch your back."**

" **Affirmative." Came his reply.**

 **No sooner did another dropship swoop in, its newly-opened doors revealing a pair of hunters. I burst into rose petals, charging one of them and socked him straight in the jaw.**

"Okay, that's a bit showey even for you, Ruby." My partner remarked.

"Heh, might as well make it entertaining. And you can't say it wasn't effective."

"It was ineffective." She said, dryly.

"You'll see, just wait."

 **The stunned body of the hunter fell into the canyon below.**

Weiss blinked. "I… stand corrected."

 **Mid-flight, I turned my attention to the other hunter and pulled out my sniper, firing off a few shots into its head. The hunter roared in agony and started charging up its fuel rod cannon. I hit the ground and dodged right at the last moment, leaving a cloud of rose petals to take the hit instead. The beast swung its shield at me, but I sidestepped and shot several rounds into its back. It finally collapsed, dead where it lay.**

" **Recon Bravo to Noble Two, charge placed."**

" **Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope?"**

" **Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply."**

" **Alright, keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding."**

" **There's a gate to the southeast of the hydro plant."**

" **Copy, uploading security codes to you now." Kat finished as we approached.**

" **Okay, got 'em. Unlocking the gate." The gate slid open with a soft clank. "Phantom, a little too close for comfort." He remarked, though It flew off moments later.**

 **We kept advancing, eventually coming across a hail of plasma.**

"That's a _lot_ of plasma…" Yang remarked.

"Yeah, that's a Shade for ya. They throw out loads of the stuff, don't do much damage per hit though."

 **I peaked my head above the rock I had dove behind to see that it was, indeed, a Shade turret that was suppressing us. I ducked back behind the rock and activated my active camouflage before stepping out and braining the Elite manning the turret. The emplacement immediately silenced, though I saw another one of its kind activating in the distance. I took care of that as well before advancing, dealing with some hostile infantry along the way.**

" **A lot of air traffic around here, Six, I think we're getting warm."**

" **Ya think?" I sarcastically remarked while extracting my knife from an Elite's skull. I turned a corner before- "Shit, I got eyes on a corvette!"**

" **Noble Six, is it engaging you?"**

" **Negative, too far away."**

" **Solid copy, don't stop now."**

 **I mopped up the remainder of the covvie forces before reaching an overlooking bluff. I quickly went prone before slowly crawling forwards.**

"That's… a lot of aliens."

"Heh, you can say that again, Blake." I sighed. "Like I said, there's probably thousands of covvies on the planet right now… and this is only _one_ landing zone. Sure it turned out to be the main one, but it is still only one."

The rest of the team shuddered.

" **Jackpot."**

" **Transmitting visual. You got this, Tech Girl?"**

" **Confirmed. Receiving Noble Three and Noble Six visual of a Covenant Strike force."**

" **God, if that's a strike force, I'd hate to see what an army looks like." I remarked, dryly.**

" **Point, command is ordering all recon teams to disengage and fall back. The sun will be up in a few hours, and its going to be a** _ **very**_ **busy day."**

 **I giggled, causing Jun to look at me weirdly. "Two, are we sure Six is mentally stable?"**

" **Nope." I replied, popping the 'P'.**

"Ruby, I do truly think you're insane." Weiss remarked.

"Heh, and what's wrong with that? Being sane is boring anyway…" I wrapped my arm around her. "Come to the crazy side, Weiss, we have Kiwis!"

She blinked before scooting away from me. "I think I'll pass. Can we start the next mission now?"

I looked at the time before nodding and starting to fast-forward.

* * *

(A/N) Not really much to say here, so I'll get straight to the reviews.

Cmedina1 – I don't really know. I did a little digging and found no evidence for this… Also, that seems very un-Halo like… so I'm just gonna say that no, Elites can't block bullets.

Guest 01 – Yea, Yang was especially grossed out by the fact that they're worms.

Guest 02 – Thanks!

Guest 03 – Thanks, and she views her semblance, at this point in time at least, as something to be used sparingly; since it drains her 'natural energy shield' to function.

Guest 04 – Thanks!

SmoothedBest36 – Thanks! I thought about using line breaks instead of bold/unbold, but then I realized that it would get very confusing, very quickly. So I stuck to what I knew would work well with the transitions. And about the random guest reviews, it's either FFN fucking up somehow or it's a troll somewhere, probably the latter. Either way, I'm just gonna ignore it and hope it goes away. But to answer your question, no, you aren't the only one seeing it.

And that's all for today! 'Clash of the Titans' is next, and will cover both 'Tip of the Spear' and, my personal favorite mission of Halo: Reach, 'Long Night of Solace'.


	3. Clash of the Titans

(A/N) First off, I just wanna apologize for this taking soooooo long to get out. I know I said in the last chapter of the main series that I'd have this out within a day, obviously that didn't happen. Honestly, it was just simple bad luck. I had just finished writing _WBY's responses to Ruby up until the beginning of 'Long Night of Solace' when I went to bed Sunday night… only to awaken to the file being corrupted. Pretty safe to say that I was just a tiny bit angry… …and I may have put off re-writing this for a bit as a result.

Now for the reason why it's been over a goddamn month since the last update… To be honest, this fic just isn't as fun to write as the regular Ruby B-312, though that _doesn't_ mean this is getting abandoned (There are only two [or three] chapters left of this, after all). What it _does_ mean, is that if I'm running a bit short on time in a week, a chapter of this may not be released in favor of another fic. Also, I'm gonna officially abandon nearly any semblance of a schedule for this fic; if a chapter of this doesn't come out on the day a chapter of the main one does, don't expect one for that week.

Also, a lot of people are wondering if I'll do the chapter 'Lone Wolf'. And I'm just going to say that, yes, I am. In fact, this will probably end shortly after Blake runs away from Ruby in 'Sierra B-312', given that Ruby doesn't want anyone to see what happens next, nor would _they_ themselves want to see it. It might be a bit meta since this _technically_ takes place during ch7 of that fic, but there really isn't that valid of a reason to stop it before that event.

Anyways, you guys've waited long enough for this chapter, so… enjoy!

Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/25/19.

* * *

Chapter Three – Clash of the Titans

* * *

" **-the origin of which has yet to be determined." Was the first thing that was heard when I was done fast-forwarding.**

"Eh, close enough." I sighed. "Alright, so its now the next day and we're beginning our attack run on the covvie positions."

The rest of my team nods in agreement and I resume the video.

 **Seconds pass in silence… discounting the roaring of UNSC engines,** **before Carter speaks up. "That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC command as a priority one target."**

" **Det charge link is loud and clear!" Jun announces.**

" **Copy that." Kat states as I turn my attention to the cliff. "Acquiring signal lock on the pylon." She pauses as she pulls out the detonator. "Detonating in three… two…" She depresses the trigger and a large fireball engulfs the cliff.**

"Why wait until now to do it?" Blake asked, confused. "Wouldn't it have been better to destroy it while you were there?"

"Well… yes and no…" I answered. "Yes because… well… its _Covenant…_ But no because then they'd be on high alert."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't they have already been on alert? I mean, you _did_ storm through their camp the previous night."

I grinned. "Heh, and we didn't leave any survivors to say who did it. For all they know, it was just some militia, not two fully-equipped Spartans."

"But they-"

"Remember, the Covenant is a _religious_ organization. Sometimes they don't make the best militarily-sound plans."

She huffed. "I suppose."

 **Suddenly, the formation was engulfed by plasma fire from enemy banshees. We returned fire, though no kills were scored. A Warthog in front of us got hit with a Wraith's plasma mortar and is engulfed in blue flames. We barely dodge it.**

"W- We just saw those people… _die_ …" Weiss said.

I sighed. "Yeah… and they won't be the last, either…"

 **Kat steers us towards a bridge as I spot something. "Incoming!" I shouted, just as said bridge was destroyed.**

" **Might want to hold on to something!" She says as we go airborn.**

"Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods…" Yang chants, clinging to me.

 **The 'Hog rolls and I'm thrown from it after a couple seconds.**

Weiss groans. "Ugg, I think I might be ill…" She said. I raised an eyebrow, filing that fact away for later.

"Gods! _Why_ didn't you wear a seatbelt, Ruby?!" Yang shouted.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, because that can get you killed in a warzone?" I responded, dryly.

"But you wouldn't have been ejected from the car!" She retorts.

I shrugged. "Eh, I was fine. Just watch."

 **After a second or two of me laying, unmoving, on the ground, my head cocks over to one side, revealing my grenade launcher.**

"See?" I started. "I was just fine!"

"Still should've worn it…" My sister grumbled.

" **Guhhhh..." I groaned as I get up. I looked to my right as I heard screams… …only to see another 'Hog full of UNSC Troopers hit the bridge and plummet to the depths.**

"Did… Did those people just die?"

"Yes, Weiss. Those men are dead." She visibly deflated at that comment.

" **Six!" I hear Kat yell. "Can you hear me?!"**

" **Loud 'n clear, Techgirl…" I mumble out as I grab my grenade launcher. I see a duo of banshees in the distance closing towards us and I fired off a grenade in their direction, keeping the trigger depressed. They neared us and loosed a salvo, destroying our vehicle, but not before the grenade detonates, disabling them and sending the aircraft plummeting into the cavern below.**

"Pretty much all vehicles are vulnerable to EMP, in case you guys were wondering." I commented.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… Interesting… And how does one generate such a thing?" She asked.

"Well, there's the grenade launcher… buuuut you can also just overcharge a plasma pistol."

"Noted."

" **Nice shot, Six." Kat comments. "But we have bigger problems."**

 **She motions to a phalanx of Jackals. "Heh, leave 'em to me." I say as I fire off a grenade. It bounces once before sailing under their shields and exploding, killing three of them. I whip out my DMR and start headshotting the grunts around me, only to be interrupted by a fuelrod-equipped Shade turret. I dodge one before grabbing a nearby Grunt and flinging him at the approaching hailstorm of green plasma.**

My partner facepalmed. "Why are you still surprising me…?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing… I am merely referring to the fact that you _hurled a Grunt into the air_ in order to protect yourself."

I shrugged. "Eh, if it works, it works. Am I right?"

Weiss groaned. "Whatever. Let's continue."

 **The meatshield does its job, and the storm halted for just long enough for me to get a bead on the Grunt manning the turret. I pull the trigger and the Shade snaps back to its original position, signifying its deactivation.**

 **An Elite Ultra pops out of the woodwork and starts firing off concussion rounds at me. I dodge and weave, but a few land and break my shield.**

 **I charge the alien, peppering it with 7.62mm rounds the entire time. Its shield breaks and it roars in anger… …only for one more round to pierce its skull, silencing the foe.**

" **Six! I could use some help with this Shade!" Kat yells.**

 **I look over to her position and see her in cover behind a rock, unable to move due to the hailstorm of plasma from a nearby turret. I line up a shot and put a round through the operator's skull. "All good, Two."**

" **Kat, be advised." Carter butt in. "ONI has ID'ed two hostile anti-aircraft guns southwest of your location."**

" **Copy commander." She responded. "New target, Six. Go shut down those AA guns."**

" **Flyboys got a little problem?"**

"I've been meaning to ask… what is it with the nicknames?" I raised an eyebrow at Blake's question. "You have one for every one of us, but why?"

"Oh, well, most of the time I make up one for people I don't know. Ya know, just based on their appearance or something. I don't really know a lot of people, for obvious reasons, so I guess they just stick." I shrugged. "That answer your question?"

"Somewhat."

" **Heh, I'll be sure the covvies know why they call us demons, then."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Demons? Really?" She huffed. "They compare you to grimm?"

I shrugged. "They're religious fanatics, so it makes sense that they'd call us demons. Actually, come to think of it, they call ODST's imps, too."

"Interesting."

" **Yeah, you go do that, Six." She said as a Pelican descended, dropping off a rocket-equipped 'Hog. "I've got the wheel."**

 **I remember rolling my eyes here. "Because that worked out** _ **so**_ **well last time…" I deadpanned as I climbed into the passenger seat.**

" **At least when I'm driving, the car obeys the laws of physics…"**

 **I shrugged. "Eh, they're boring anyways." We rounded a corner…**

 **…and proceeded to ram face first into a cliff face…**

_WBY collectively facepalmed.

"I think we've found a worse driver than you, sis."

"Hey! I'm a great driver." I defended.

"Debatable." Blake commented.

"Traitors…" I mumbled, to low for anyone to-

"I heard that."

I sighed. "Ooooof course you did, Blake."

 **"Goddamnit, Kat…"**

" **Hey! At least I didn't drive us off the cliff!"**

" **Yet…"**

" **Lock it down, both of you." Carter butt in over the radio. "AA gun should be in visual range, take it out."**

" **Heh, consider it gone." I said as I hopped out as we passed a ghost. I angled myself just right so that I kicked out the previous occupant, an Elite Minor, before turning the craft around and ramming him.**

"Uhh… Overkill, much?"

I shrugged. "Eh, better to be sure than to end up with a plasma bolt in your back."

My sister hummed. "Can't really argue with that."

 **I engaged the boost after I had angled it up a cliff face, launching me into the air…**

 **…where I proceeded to land on an Elite General. I whipped the vehicle around and sprayed plasma fire into the backs of a phalanx of Jackals, killing them within seconds.**

 **I looked over to my left and sighed at the sight before me. Kat had managed to almost run herself off a cliff and was doing everything in her power to keep herself, and the terrified Trooper manning the turret, from falling. Unfortunately for her, a Revenant was lining up a shot on her.**

" **God fucking damnit, Kat!" I swore as I activated the boost. The Ghost hit a ramp-shaped rock just as the covvie vehicle fired a round. I leaped from my Ghost and landed in a roll in front of the Revenant. In the background, the Ghost exploded against the plasma mortar that I had made it to intercept.**

"Why do you have to do stunts like this?" Weiss said, facepalming.

"Heh, just you wait. I top it in the next few seconds."

She pinched her nose. "Why am I not surprised?"

 **I stood, my back against a sheer cliff, as the Revenant flared its boosters, propelling it towards me at** _ **lethal**_ **velocities. At the last second, using both my augmented and my auric strength, I leaped over the doomed vehicle, an expression of shock on the Elite driver's face.**

"Has anyone told you how reckless you are?" My partner stated. "Because you are _far_ too reckless."

I shrugged. "Eh, super-powered super-soldier. I can afford to be reckless sometimes." I giggled "Plus, it worked, didn't it?"

"You are quite possibly the luckiest person alive, Ruby."

"Nah, that'd be Spartan-117. Seriously, that guy's luck is just crazy."

 **Kat finally dug herself out of her bind and glared at me. "Don't even think about it, Six."**

" **Heh, why Tech Girl, what** _ **ever**_ **do you mean?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.**

 **She groaned. "Shut it, we have a gun to kill."**

 **I gave a mock salute as I hopped into her 'Hog. "Yes ma'am."**

 **We rode over to the gun and I dispatched what few infantry were left before going inside and destabilizing the core. The AA gun exploded seconds after we were clear. I looked up to see a UNSC Paris-class Frigate lumbering into position, its 50mm point-defense guns blazing.**

"W- What is _that_?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"That, my friend, is a Paris-class heavy frigate."

Her eyes widened. "F- F- _FRIGATE?!_ " She yelled. "That thing's as big as a Battlecarrier!"

"Yep!" I said, popping the 'P'. "Humanity controlled over eight-hundred worlds at the start of the war. We can _afford_ to build big."

"Gods… if that's a _frigate_ … What's the biggest thing you have?"

"Hmm… the largest ship capable of entering atmosphere would be the Phoenix-class support vessel at two-point-five kilometers," Weiss paled. "but the biggest ship I know of is the Punic-class supercarrier at four kilometers."

"F- F- F- FOUR KILOMETERS!?"

"Yep! That thing can almost take on an entire Covenant fleet by itself." I sighed. "If only we had any left…" I said under my breath as I resumed the video.

 **I glared at Kat. "** _ **I'm**_ **driving this time." My statement left no room for error, and Kat sheepishly hopped out.**

Weiss nodded in approval. "I would have done the same."

"Yeah," Yang said. "she's an even worse driver than you, sis."

I rolled my eyes.

 **We rounded another corner and passed under a destroyed bridge. A Wraith sat at its top, mortar firing away at some target in the distance. I unsheathed my grenade launcher and, with one hand, launched an explosive at the covvie tank.**

 **My little gift to the Covenant disabled the Wraith, allowing our rocket-gunner to reliably target it. The vehicle exploded just as a Pelican landed, depositing a deployable bridge to replace the destroyed one.**

 **We made our way through a narrow, and windy, valley, killing covvie infantry the entire time. Just as we hit a jump, Carter's voice boomed over the radio. "Noble Six, there's a mining facility near your location. Covenant are using it as a command outpost. Troopers on-site have already engaged, lend 'em a hand."**

" **Ay-firm, Commander." I answered as I parked the 'Hog on a ledge overlooking the mine. I got out and turned to the Trooper manning the rocket launcher. "Stay here and provide support, we're goin' in."**

 **He grinned. "Roger that, Spartan!" He unleashed a rocket barrage on the outpost, devastating a phalanx of Jackals and destroying a Shade turret.**

 **I sprinted forward with Kat in tow, quickly reaching the entrance to the mining facility. A few rounds later, and all the Covenant infantry were dead. I rounded the corner and ascended a flight of steps before coming face to face with a squad of covvies. My helmet darted to the side, where an explosive tank sat.**

Weiss immediately caught on to what I was planning. "Ruby, no."

I grinned. "Ruby, yes!"

 **I threw a grenade at the tank and ducking behind a pillar. A second later, the ground shook underneath me, a section of the platform giving way before falling down the cliffside. "Noble Six, what was that?! Are you alright?!" Kat asked over the radio.**

" **Heh, just a little improv, Techgirl. I'm all good." I said as I ascended another set of stairs before rounding a corner…**

 **…and immediately coming under fire from a plasma turret… "Woah!" I yelped as I retreated back behind cover. Kat came up behind me and gave a questioning gaze. "Turret, just around the corner." She nodded and started a three-finger countdown.**

 **Two. I swapped the mags in my DMR.**

 **One. I switched to my grenade launcher.**

 **Zero. I rounded the corner and fired off a grenade.**

 **The explosive detonated, stunning the Elite Minor that was manning it long enough for Kat to put a round through its head with her pistol.**

"Impressive." Blake commented.

I shrugged. "We're Spartans. Being able to work effectively as a team is in our blood."

Blake hummed before nodding to herself.

 **I took out my knives and started slicing and dicing the terrified grunts surrounding us. After a few of the little ape-ish beasts fell, I felt a strong and swift kick to my back and I tumbled over onto my stomach. I quickly rolled, just in time to see an energy knife embed itself into the ground at the behest of an Elite Major. It turned its head towards me and growled while pulling its knife free. By this time, I had grabbed a nearby plasma pistol and started unloading into it.**

 **The thing flared its mandibles as its shields drained and plunged its dagger at me. I rolled backwards onto my feet while overcharging the pistol. The second I was upright, I released the bolt that my pistol had charged up, depleting my adversary's shields. I then tackled it to the ground and stabbed it approximately ten times within the span of two seconds.**

"Again with the brutality?" My partner asked. "Doesn't it ever get old?"

"Not really. Well, at least with covvies. I'd actually feel a bit bad if it was a human, but then I'd remember why I was doing it and probably just forget it ever happened."

They blinked. "That's…" Yang started.

"Sociopathic." Weiss finished.

I shrugged. "Eh, ya do what cha gotta do out there."

"You didn't have to stab it so many times." Blake commented.

"Hmmm… Nope." I said, popping the 'P'. "But keep in mind, that thing murders Humans for a living."

"So do you…"

" _Terrorists._ " I spat back. "I kill _terrorists._ Not your average everyday nine-to-five family man like these freaks."

She sighed. "Point…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blake stiffen slightly.

 **I got up to see Kat had finished off the rest of them, the last Jackal falling to the ground at the same time as an empty M6G magazine. "Finished with your little friend?"**

" **Heh, you could say that." I responded as I flicked the blood off my blade and sheathed it. "Anyways, let's get goin'." I said as I advanced. After a set of stairs as well as a few corners, I came upon a weapon rack. I observed my grenade launcher and remembered that I only had one shot left.**

 **Suddenly, my shields flared, the result of a plasma bolt striking them. I turned towards the hostiles and used my last remaining grenade round on them. The pod of Grunts squealed as they fell, and I exchanged the now-useless weapon for an MA37.**

 **Carter's voice boomed over the radio. "Noble Six, be advised, ONI has intel that there's a Zealot somewhere in your area." He said as I ducked under a concussion round. "Eliminate if possible, but don't jeopardize the mission." He finished as I withdrew my knife from said Elite's skull.**

" **Ask and ye shall receive, Commander."**

"Well, at least _someone's_ having fun at the end of the world…" My partner commented.

"Heh, what can I say? I love my job."

 **There was a pause. "Say again, Six?"**

" **She means that its already dead, Carter."**

" **Yep!" I said, popping both the 'P' as well as the methane tank on the back of a Grunt. I jumped down into a hole blown in the roof by a Wraith before dropping a pair of Grunts.**

 **Kat followed soon after and sighed. "Why can't we ever get a** _ **normal**_ **Noble Six…"**

" **Ah, cheer up, Tech Girl!" I chirped while throwing my knife at a charging Elite. "I couldda been the 'quiet badass' type and- Woah!" I yelled as I ducked under an energy sword swing. I quickly ended its life with my knife before continuing the conversation. "-and never said anything. Ever."**

 **She stared at me for a moment before facepalming. "I'm honestly not sure which is worse…"**

 **We strode out of the mining facility and were greeted by two soon-to-be-corpses each waddling towards a Ghost. Two pulls of my DMR's trigger later, and we were off in our very own Revenant. We bounded through the canyon up ahead and came to a destroyed bridge, this one both too long and too close to the AA gun to be repaired.**

 **The floating vehicle served us well as its air-cushion softened our landing on the ground below…**

 **…or it may have been the Jackal, who knows? I slammed into its friend, turning it into little more than blue paste before advancing.**

 **I came face to face with another Wraith.**

"How many of these things do they have?!" Weiss practically yelled.

I shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just glad I didn't have to fight a Scarab there." I could practically sense the raised eyebrows and unasked questions. "Big quadrupedal walker. Heavily armored. One main cannon on its hull and an AA gun of its own up top." I giggled. "Make a biiiiiiiiiiig explosion, too."

Weiss pinched her nose. "Of course you would be excited about that."

 **It charged me, hoping to earn a quick kill with its superior mass. I dodged out of the way, causing it to impact the cliff face and dent its armor. I fired off a few rounds into its near-unarmored rear, severely damaging it.**

 **By this time, it had spun around, orienting its massive plasma mortar to fire on me. However, before it could fire, I launched a few of my own rounds into its weapon, destroying both it and the tank it was mounted to.**

 **I spun around to continue my objective…**

 **…only to be met with another Wraith… I audibly sighed as I started picking away at its armor with my piddly mortar. It seems, however, that the vehicle's driver had other ideas, and began charging me.**

 **Fortunately for me, it was easy to evade. Unfortunately for the driver…**

 **...it neglected to realize that I was parked in front of a ravine, and thus, went sailing down into the darkness.**

"Another unnecessary risk." She sighed. "One of these days you're not going to be so lucky."

"Heh, well… I got here, didn't I?" I said, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did, Ruby. Even though it is due to a considerable amount of luck-"

"And skill!" I interrupted.

"-seeing as you certainly don't hold your own safety in very high regard." She continued.

I threw my arm around her and playfully shook her a bit. "Aw, don't look at it like that! I'm just a badass!"

She rolled her eyes before peeling my hand off her shoulder. "Whatever you say, Ruby… Whatever you say…"

 **I spun around once more and headed for my objective…**

 **…only for two Hunters to appear out of the structure. "Oh, come on!" I yelled. "You've got the wheel." I said to Kat as I jumped out.**

" **Six! What are you doing?!" She yelled into my comms.**

" **Heh, somethin'** _ **really**_ **stupid." I said-**

"When even _you_ say that it's a stupid idea," My partner started. ", it might not be the wisest of choices."

I huffed in mock annoyance.

 **-charging the Hunters head on. One tried to shield bash me, to which I leaped out of the way and climbed on its back. It struggled in vain to remove me, but had its back turned to its bond-brother. "Hey ugly!" I insulted. "Why don't cha just kill me already?!"**

 **I heard it growl as it charged up its plasma cannon.**

 **I leaped off my impromptu mount as soon as the cannon discharged. Moments later, it struck the plate and destroyed it, leaving that Hunter vulnerable. I grinned under my helmet and threw two plasma grenades at the hulking beast. They both struck home and, a second later, the universe had one less Mgalekgolo to worry about.**

" **Heh, now that** _ **that**_ **'s dealt with…" I drew my knives. "Let's have some fun, shall we?" I said as I charged the alien. It took a swing at me, which I deftly dodged. I ducked into the structure as the Hunter fired off a plasma round in my direction. Suddenly, a flash of red plasma exploded on the hunter, followed by another, and another.**

"Uhh… what's going on?" Yang asked after a long period of silence.

I smirked. "Kat being useful for once."

" **Six! Take out the gun, this one's mine!" I heard over the radio.**

 **I nodded. "Roger, Kat." I said as I began bashing the shield door. The shield fell and I chucked a grenade inside before swiftly exiting the structure. Seconds later, the AA gun exploded in a ball of blue plasma. "Alright, Triple-A in the AO is down."**

" **Roger, Six." Carter replied. "There's a Pelican inbound with reinforcements." He said as the craft landed, disgorging its cargo of marines. "ONI needs up close recon on those spires. We're gonna fly you the rest of the way."**

" **Got it, sir."**

" **Jorge has a Falcon inbound to your position, Lieutenant. Highlighting the LZ now." She paused. "Commander, I'm going to set up a forward observation post here."**

" **Copy that. I'm waiting on new intel, see what you can see. Carter out."**

 **The aircraft landed a few feet in front of me. "Need a lift, Spartan?" Jorge asked.**

" **Heh, gotta admit," I started as I climbed into the chopper. "you really know how to pick-up chicks."**

The other three occupants of the room collectively facepalmed. "Again, you Oaf?" Weiss sighed. "I said it once, and I'll say it again… You're incorrigible _._ "

"Hey! That time I was joking!"

"That time." Blake deadpanned.

 **Jorge seemed to freeze. "Umm…" He trailed off.**

"Great, you broke him." Blake points out.

I waved her off. "Eh, not for long."

 **He shook his head. "Anyway, we spotted some nasty business in the canyon on the way down."**

 **I cycled the grenade launcher I was sat at. "Well, why don't we show 'em just how much they fucked up, eh?"**

" **Amen to that, let's give 'em hell, Six." He replied as we took off.**

 **The aircraft flew for a few seconds before rounding a rock face. "Top of the canyon! Dead ahead!" The pilot announced as I squeezed off several grenade rounds. The enemy infantry practically melted beneath our guns.**

 **Ahead, a few Shades opened fire on us…**

 **…only to meet the same fate as their brethren earlier. A Wraith locked us in its sights before loosing a plasma mortar. The craft jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding it, before I lobbed several grenades at the vehicle, destroying it.**

"That weapon is quite effective." Blake observed. "Why doesn't the UNSC use it more?"

"Because the ammo is _really_ expensive. Seriously, its like five bucks per grenade!" I yelled. "And I think I used over a hundred of them just here."

Weiss visibly cringed. "Okay, I can see the issue."

" **There's the spire!" The pilot announced.**

" **Solid copy." Carter responded. "Dot?"**

" **Latest intelligence suggests these spires may be projecting electromagnetic cloaking shields."**

" **Fly us in there, pilot. We've gotta know what's in there." Jorge commanded.**

" **Affirmative, sir. Here we go." He announced. The chopper crossed the barrier…**

 **…and proceeded to act like it had been hit with an overcharged plasma pistol… "We just lost all power, we're goin' down…" He said, matter-of-factly.**

 **The craft spun out of control. "LOCK YOUR ARMOR, SPARTAN!" Jorge ordered.**

I turned towards Weiss. "You might wanna look away for a tiny bit. I get thrown around in a few seconds."

She nods in appreciation before looking away. "Thanks."

" **Brace for a hard landing!" The pilot said seconds before we crashed, throwing me around quite a bit.**

"Again! Why no seatbelts!" Yang screams.

"Well, they're actually detrimental to your health in a combat situation most of the time."

"You said that earlier," Blake remarks. "but I don't see how that's the case."

I clapped my hands together. "Well, if you need to leave a vehicle, every nanosecond counts. Especially when something is about to destroysaid vehicle. Plus, with this armor," I pointed at it. "I can and have survived falls from orbit without too much trouble."

"Still," My sister said, sighing. "would it kill you to wear a seatbelt?"

"Like I just said: Yes."

She sighed again. "Fine."

" **Guuhhhhh" I groaned as I got up, grabbing an assault rifle that had been tossed at my feet.**

 **Looking around, I saw Jorge stretch his arm out before grabbing his weapon. "Crew's dead. We shouldn't stay here." He said somberly.**

" **Agreed." I spotted a jetpack that had been ejected as well. "Heh, well, at least** _ **something**_ **went right…"**

 **A Banshee whirred overhead, and I turned to my at-the-time partner. "Hey, we need to get onto the spire, right?" I asked.**

 **He followed my gaze. "Six, no…"**

"Well, at least he isn't enabling you."

"Heh, you make it sound like it was a _bad_ idea, Ice Queen."

"It was, if you ask me."

 **I nodded. "Six, yes!" I said as I leaped into the air and took a few potshots at the Banshee. The pilot reacted predictably and attempted to ram me…**

 **…too bad the maneuver only hit a cloud of rose petals.**

 **I boarded the craft and pried open the hatch, exposing the pilot. One thrust of my knife later, the limp body fell and I took its place. I turned my newly-acquired bird skyward.**

" **Noble leader," He audibly sighed over the comms. "Six is on her way up."**

" **Get in there and take out that shield, Lieutenant."**

" **Heh, consider it done, sir." I said as I dismounted onto the spire.**

" **Good, I'm en route with a Falcon! We'll pick you up as soon as you drop that shield." I unloaded my magazine into the form of a stunned Elite Ultra, dropping his shield. He roared and pulled out an energy sword before charging me.**

 **I ducked under his swing before shoulder checking him just as I finished reloading. Half a magazine later, the Elite lay dead. Seconds after that, the same could be said for his entourage.**

" **Hurry Lieutenant! We've got a frigate inbound to blow that spire as soon as the shield is powered down!" He said just as I pressed the deactivation button on the unattended console.**

" **Shield's down! Requesting immediate evac!" I said as I sprinted out of the spire. The Falcon came into view just as I cleared the door and I leaped for it, activating my semblance, and came to rest right on one of the seats.**

 **Carter cued his mic. "Get us outta here!" He commanded. "Control! This is Noble One. Spire One is green and you're free to engage! Have a nice day!"**

" **Copy that, Noble One." There was a slight pause. "Be advised, all ground units: Frigate Three-One-Eight Heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized."**

"MAC rounds?" Blake asked. "The same ones that we saw destroy that ship at the one base?"

"Since that one was already scaled down... yeah." I answered.

" **MAC rounds?! In atmosphere?!" Jorge shouted.**

" **Heh, sure beats a cup of coffee!"**

" **Hang on to your teeth people!" Carter said as the frigate descended into view.**

"I still can't believe that's what you people consider to be a _frigate_." Weiss mumbled somewhat jealously.

 **There was a loud whirring sound before a plume of white light erupted from the frigate's bow, striking the spire and destroying it.**

Cheers erupted throughout the room, my three teammates reveling in the destruction of the Covenant structure.

I just sat there, a sad smile adorning my face, as some of the last memories of Jorge crept into my mind.

" **Yeah! That's what happens when you mess with Humanity!" I shouted…**

 **…shortly before a plume of blue plasma speared the Grafton, destroying it.**

"What the-?!" Weiss shrieked.

"Where did _that_ come from?!" Yang yelled.

Blake just sat there with her eyes widened.

I sighed. " _That_ was from the Covenant CSO-class supercarrier 'Long Night of Solace'."

" **New contact. High-tonnage."**

" **Yeah, we guessed that, Dot!"**

" **No… No! Somebody tell me this ain't happening!" Jorge said, still somewhat in disbelief.**

" **UNSC Frigate Grafton, do you copy?" Command asked.**

" **Grafton is dust!" Carter exclaimed. "We need to get out of here, now!"**

 **The Falcon's speed increased dramatically, and I got a peak at the underside of the once-cloaked CSO-Class supercarrier.**

"Gods…" Weiss said in horrified awe. "How large _is_ that thing…?"

"Almost twenty-nine kilometers…" I said.

"…They…" She said after a minute. "…They can build things like th- that…?" My partner asked, fearfully.

I nodded my head. "Yeah…" I sighed. "Thankfully, there really aren't that many running around."

"I think _one_ is too many." Blake commented.

"Yeah…" I paused. "Anyways, let's keep moving."

There was a chorus of agreements before I fast-forwarded to the briefing for the next mission.

* * *

(A/N) Fucking _finally_! The cursed chapter is done! …Well, as done as its gonna get for the time being… As of right now, the word count in the actual story is… Huh, 5,111… Interesting coincidence… Anyways, that's already the size of an average B-312 chapter and I'm basically out of time on my end.

By 'out of time' I mean that, in less than 24-hours from posting this, I'll be leaving for Georgia to attend my brother's AIT graduation ceremony. I really wanted to get a chapter of Ruby B-312 out before I left, but a combination of getting ready for the trip, writer's block, and just generally being busy means that I have it less than half-done at the moment… So this means that not only will there not be a chapter coming out for last week, but also, not one for this week either.

However, perhaps you guys could give your opinion on something that I've been trying to figure out is batshit insane or just cool. I thought of a UNSC spec-ops… division? Section? I'm really not sure what to call them. Anyways, they hailed from a single planet overrun with an as-of-yet unnamed species of ice giants that can most effectively be killed with swords. As a result, these 'Bjørnsønner' all carry a sword and specialize in melee combat, though they _do_ adhere to normal ODST tactics. TL;DR, they're the love child of Space Vikings and ODSTs.

My hang-up with them is that I don't know how well received they'll be, and I wanted to know you guys' opinion of them.

Concerning the mission 'Long Night of Solace' was absent from this chapter, I'll either roll it into the next one, or have it be a standalone chapter, depends on how long the bloody thing is taking to write.

One last thing. Weiss doesn't really have motion sickness… …at least not like Jaune does. She has more of what we would call 'VR sickness', in that, your body gets extremely confused when it sees things moving in front of it but doesn't feel anything. A while back, there was actually a first-person film called 'Hardcore Henry', and there were quite a few people who _did_ actually feel sick while watching some of the stunts pulled in it. Weiss merely has a mild case of this, and it'll only be a somewhat mild problem when Ruby is spinning around violently… …like when she was in the Warthog at the beginning, or the Falcon near the end.

Now, on to the Reviews!

 **Artyom-Dreizehn** – Hope it didn't disappoint.

 **Osterreicher97 –** Thanks!

 **Guest 001** – Sorry, you'll have to wait a bit longer for that one. But yea, it is kinda fun to poke fun at her cat features.

 **Dragon Lord Syed 101** – Thanks!

 **Guest 002** – It will appear. Though the problem with making it terrifying is that Ruby is not only alive in the 'future' (at least relevant to when the video was shot), but she also has all her limbs and stuff. So any time something bad happens, _WBY can just look over and see that Ruby was fine… Somehow…

 **raw666** – Yea… that was an oversight. Keep in mind that, at the time of writing that chapter, I didn't have any intention of doing this fic at all. Consider the following sequence an abridged version for those that didn't want to read this one.

 **red october700** – I had actually completely forgotten about that before I read your review, seeing as I never let the AIs drive. But I thought it'd be funny, so hope you enjoyed that!

 **anthonyluna29** – Yea… sorry about the wait…

 **Spartastic 4 –** I actually picture her voice more as a slightly-deeper voice for cannon Ruby… i.e. her voice in V1. I'll have to look into what fights Six gets into in cannon, maybe I could work something out.

 **TheFishKing** – Not a bad idea; I'll save it for later.

So yea, guess that's everything. See ya guys in the next chapter… whenever that is…


	4. Hell Hath No Fury

Chapter Four – Hell Hath No Fury…

* * *

 **I stop fastforwarding just as I'm crouched behind a rock. Several loud booms can be heard nearby just before a high-pitched wail resounds throughout the room.**

"W- What's making those sounds?" My sister asked.

I shrugged. "You'll see in a sec."

 **I peeked around the corner, revealing the source of the noise.**

"Gods…" Weiss lets out. "What _is_ that thing?"

" _That_ is a Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform, otherwise known as a 'Scarab'." I said. "They're a bitch to bring down, hopefully you don't ever encounter one."

" **It would seem our foe is more devious than we imagined." Dot said as we all entered a cave. "That spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked Covenant supercarrier; a grave threat."**

"A 'grave threat'?" Weiss huffed. "That's the understatement of the century."

" **Thankfully, help is imminent. Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battlegroup should arrive within forty-eight hours." She finished just as Jorge threw his weapon case onto the cave floor.**

"Forty-eight hours?" My partner said with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Hey, space is big. A few centuries ago, people would _kill_ to travel that fast."

"I suppose so." She said.

" **Forty-eight hours?" Jun asked before taking off his helmet. "** _ **That's**_ **imminent?"**

Weiss lets a smug 'I told you so' grin crawl its way onto her face.

 **Jun brushes some accumulated dust off of Jorge as he notices Carter and Kat arguing. "Uh-oh." He said. "Who's your money on this time?"**

" **Her." Jorge responds, taking off his helmet.**

" **You always pick her…"**

 **He shrugged. "She's always had him dialed in."**

 **We waited for a few minutes while they finished arguing, all of us too far away to effectively hear what they were saying.**

 **Finally, Nobles 3-5 plus myself approached them. "What's going on?" Jorge asked.**

 **Carter shrugged. "Go ahead… Explain."**

 **Kat grabbed for Emile's kukri before being stopped. "May I?" She asked.**

 **After a few moments, he removed his hand. "Don't cut churself."**

"He seems possessive." Blake observed.

"Heh, shouldda seen when _I_ did that. Guy _actually_ stabbed me!" I said with a smile.

My sister blinked. "Uhh… were you-"

I playfully rolled my eyes. "Yea, aura and all that." I hummed. "Come to think of it, I don't think he'd do that if he didn't already know about it."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't make it better."

"Oh relax." I waved her off. "It was only my hand, its not like it was anything important."

She opened her mouth to retort, but I cut her off by resuming the video.

 **She nodded, drawing his weapon. "Objective: Destroy Covenant carrier in geosynchronous orbit above us." She said, starting to draw a diagram with her borrowed knife.**

"Uhh…" Yang let out, echoing the thoughts of my other two teammates. "What's geo-sink-something mean?"

I gave her an incredulous look before it dawned on me. "Oh, right… No space travel…" I said. "'Geosynchronous orbit' just means that the orbital period of your spacecraft is the exact same as the sidereal day of the body you're orbiting." The rest of the team gave me a blank look, causing me to sigh. "You guys know what an orbit is, right?"

My partner huffed. "Of course we do, you Oaf."

"Okay. So, imagine it takes you exactly one day to complete one orbit. _That_ is a geosynchronous orbit."

At this explanation, the rest of my team nodded in understanding.

" **Is this sanctioned, sir?" Jorge asked.**

" **What do** _ **you**_ **think?" Carter responded, receiving an almost silent 'no' from Jorge.**

" **Method: A slipspace drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have."**

"I…" Weiss started.

"…Have absolutely…" Blake continued.

"…No idea what she's talking about." Yang finished.

I clapped my hands together. "Oh-kay then…" I said. "So, first thing's first: A slipspace drive punches a hole in the space-time continuum-"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Weiss screeches. "Won't that, I don't know, _destroy the universe_?!"

I burst out laughing, holding my sides as I fell off the crate I was seated on. After a few minutes, I finally regained my composure and sat back down. "Heh, nope. They just open a portal to a set of dimensions called 'Slipspace'."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, but didn't otherwise say anything.

"There, the conventional laws of physics are kinda… _weird_ …" I said. "They still apply… well… _most_ of them still do, but there is one reason why we bother to use it." I paused for dramatic effect. "It enables Faster-Than-Light travel, meaning we can travel entire lightyears in just _days_."

My partner's jaw hit the floor. "B- But…" She stammered out before her shoulders slumped. "…We can't even get to space _at all_ …"

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Wanna see space?" I asked.

She looked up at me. "Yes, very much so."

"You'll get to in a bit, but first, I need to explain what a nuke is." I said. She instantly sat up and gave me her undivided attention. "Alright, so first off, 'Nuke' is just slang for a 'Nuclear Weapon'." The name itself caused a concerned look to dawn on Yang's face. "They are one of the oldest and by far the _deadliest_ of mankind's Weapons of Mass Destruction, or WMDs."

Their eyes went wide as dinner plates. "B- but…" Weiss again stammered. "We saw that shot go straight through the Covenant ship a while ago…" She said, referring to the ODP's strike on the Corvette attacking Sword Base.

I smirked. "Heh, _that_ wasn't even a _fraction_ of the power that nukes could yield. Hell, the first ones used in a war were probably more powerful that that particular shot." I paused, awaiting any questions. When none came, I continued. "So, to put things in perspective, I'll tell you about the first bomb ever dropped on an enemy target, named 'Little Boy'. It was a little over six hundred years ago, during the World War Two-"

"Wait." Weiss said. "World War _Two_?" She questioned. "You mean that an entire planet fought itself once, and decided to do it _again_?"

I shrugged. "Yea, hell, it was barely a full generation after the first one." I said. I faintly heard Weiss whisper something about Remnant's Great War, but I paid it no mind. "But that's beside the point. So, imagine a sprawling city, one home to hundreds of thousands. It was fairly peaceful, that is… until August 6th, 1945." I paused. "On that day, an opposing nation in the war finally struck the city. Three bombers soared over the city in the morning of that day, only one bomb was dropped." I sighed. "When it hit, almost everything within a mile was completely obliterated, anything left standing within 4.4 miles was set ablaze, and just about anyone that survived _that_ got some kind of radiation sickness."

Their mouths were, at this point, all glued to the floor. I knew that it would be a bit for them to fully grasp the scale of nuclear weapons, so I just sat there until they recovered.

Finally, Weiss spoke up, though hesitation was clear in her voice. "R- Radiation?"

I nodded. "I guess you wouldn't know about that either…" I sighed again. "Its something that get emitted sometimes. Nukes, slipspace ruptures, slipspace _drives_ , and a lot of other things cause it. Well, they don't _cause_ it, but for the purpose of this discussion, they do. Anyways, it can… well, it'll end up killing you if you absorb too much. Just know that if you ever hear a sound like _this -_ " I played the sound of a Geiger counter over my helmet's speakers. "-just _run_. Don't stick around, just go back the way you came as quickly as possible."

I looked at their horrified expressions before deciding that I wouldn't tell them about the capabilities of modern nuclear weapons, they'd had enough of this already. "Alright, let's just continue." I said as I resumed the recording.

" **Deliver system: Us." She said. "Solvable: Getting us up there; that and getting our hands on a slipspace drive." She tossed the kukri in the air and grabbed it by the blade almost casually before offering it back to its owner. "Thank you for sharing." She finished with a condescending head tilt.**

" **So," Carter started. "all we need is orbit capable transport… and the** _ **single**_ **most expensive piece of equipment made by man?"**

 **Kat shrugged. "As a soldier in the field, I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources. That said, a good place to look might be…" She tisked. "I don't know… The nearest nonexistent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre Program-" Past me's head jolted upwards for a moment. "-dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor…" She paused. "And in which our newest member…" She paused, causing the rest of Noble team to look at me. "was** _ **certainly**_ **never a pilot…"**

The rest of Team RWBY mirrored Noble's actions on-screen, causing me to shrug innocently. "Heh, what can I say? She never _said_ I was a starfighter pilot." I joked, trying to take their minds off the whole 'nukes' discussion.

Yang stared at me with wide eyes. "No _way…_ "

I gave her a smirk. " _Yes_ way."

"Is _this_ what you meant by saying we would see space in a few minutes?" My partner asked.

I rubbed my chin. "Possibly."

They instantly returned their attention to the screen, expressions no longer horrified.

" **You're scary, ya know that?" Emile commented.**

" **All we need is a green light from Holland." She said.**

" **Good luck with that." Carter said dismissing her.**

 **She suddenly appeared at his side, a datapad in her hand. "You're the one asking him."**

 **He gave her an 'are you serious?' look before reluctantly grabbing the datapad and walking towards the back of the cave. "Oh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this…"**

 **At this, I began fastforwarding again.**

I shrugged. "Nothing really interesting happened until the next day."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "A _day_? That gargantuan monstrosity of a _ship_ is still up there!"

"Yea, but _you_ try and get everything we use within a couple minutes."

She crossed her arms. "Hmph, you never even told us what the plan was."

I blinked. "Ooooohhh yeeeeeaaaaa…" I trailed off. "Basically, we plant a slipspace drive in the center of the carrier and teleport the middle part to oblivion." I shrugged. "That's the gist of it, at least."

 **I resumed the video when Jorge was disembarking from our Falcon on the beaches of the Sabre facility, Kat and I not far behind him. "Bit of a hike to the launch facility." He commented.**

" **Any closer's too hot to land." Carter responded. "Move up the beach, Noble!" He commanded. "Six, scout ahead."**

 **I nodded. "Got it." I broke into a sprint, though not using my semblance, and switched to my pistol. "Contacts!" I shouted as I rounded a corner, picking off a few grunts while I closed the distance.**

 **Just as I bounded over a rock outcropping, and the last Grunt fell, I switched to my MA37.**

 **A large thump echoed through the ground as the sounds of combat erupted around me, and I looked to see a Covenant single-occupant drop pod produce an Elite Major.**

"Where did _he_ come from?" Blake asked.

"Orbit." I said. "Both covvies and the UNSC have what we call 'Drop Pods' that we can deploy. The basic concept is that you drop a pod from orbit with a trooper inside and they get deployed within minutes to a trouble spot. Covvies pack basically anyone into their multiple-occupant pods, though the small ones like _that_ one-" I gestured to the screen. "-usually contain an Elite. Maybe a Brute if you're unlucky."

"There's an alien species called a 'brute'?" Weiss asked, receiving a nod of affirmation from myself. "Is _that_ why you don't want me to call you that name?"

I sighed. "Yea, you'll meet them later on. It's safe to say that you won't like them very much."

 **I poured every round of my magazine into the Elite's shields, dodging plasmafire all the while, and my last shot** _ **just**_ **managed to pop its shields. Thinking quickly, I drew my sidearm and popped one in its skull, dropping it.**

"And _that's_ why I like the MA5B over the MA37." I said. "Sure, they both use 7.62, buuuut the higher capacity magazine in the MA5B just suits me better."

The rest of the team just looked at me weirdly for my sudden outburst before returning their attention to the screen.

 **I slammed another magazine into my rifle just in time to be met with a trio of Elites; one Minor, one Major, and one Ultra.**

 **Suddenly, a red dot flashed over the head of the Ultra. Blue and Teal ones appeared over the Major's skull as well, though none appeared over the Minor's.**

"Umm, what?" Yang asked.

"It's a little Noble Team-specific communication." I said. "Carter just called out who attacks what targets. I get the Ultra, both him and Kat tag-team the Major, and the Minor's fair game for anyone."

"That sounds… handy…"

"Yea, it only works for people with neural laces, though." I said. "Heh, if the UNSC shows up and you guys join the Marine Corps, I'll teach ya a few tricks."

"Is uhh… Is that what you're a part of?"

I hummed. "Technically, I'm in the Navy." I said. "Though Noble Team was assigned to Special Warfare Command, which is under the Army."

"That's… confusing…" Blake commented.

I shrugged. "Eh, ya get used to it."

 **I charged forward, hearing other covvies drop around me, while dodging plasmafire from most directions. A few bolts hit my shields, draining them slightly, though I still had it when I got in range.**

 **I drained my entire magazine in a matter of seconds, almost all the rounds going into the Elite's shields. Just as I entered the outer edge of melee range, my rifle clicked empty.**

 **The Elite still had its shield, though that was of little consequence as I drew a knife. It summoned forth an energy dagger in response and charged, closing the distance in a few long strides, and swiped at me.**

 **I easily dodged it and plunged my knife into its throat before twisting, withdrawing, and plunging it in again just to be sure.**

 **The alien dropped to the ground, lifeless, as the rest of my team and I continued.**

" **More hostiles! In the rocks to the south!" Jorge announced as we crested a small hill. In front of us were mostly Grunts, though a few Jackals took up positions nearer to our destination.**

 **Our team charged through the lesser aliens like they weren't even there, the only real obstacle being another Elite Ultra that had been dropped in. He also fell fairly quickly under the combined firepower of Jorge's Etilka paired with my assault rifle.**

 **Just after the last alien fell, the base's security door opened, revealing a pair of marines. "Spartans coming in!" One of them, a female, shouted. "Watch your fire!"**

 **Just as I was about to head in, I spotted a rack of both DMRs and a bubble shield armor attachment. I hummed before taking both.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why not exchange your rifle for that one?"

"Because the assault rifle and the DMR serve two different functions." I explained. "The AR is for mid to close range and/or suppression. Both the DMR and the Magnum are for precision shots. Normally, UNSC protocols state that a soldier should only carry a primary and a secondary weapon, though I _heavily_ disagree with that." I said. "In my experience, the more guns you can carry, the better your chances of walking away from a fight."

" **Done, Six?" Kat asked impatiently.**

" **Heh, yea." I responded. "Just couldn't let a perfectly good rifle go to waste."**

 **Suddenly, a voice boomed over comms. "Flight control's this way, they're expecting you."**

 **I shrugged and followed the rest of my team.**

" **Still can't believe Holland said yes to this…" Jorge commented.**

" **Heh, look on the bright side, big guy, ya get to blow up a supercarrier." I responded.**

" **Yea, it'll be better to be back, though."**

I felt a ping of sorrow wash over me. Thankfully, the others seemed to not notice.

" **Don't cha worry, we'll get back juuuust fine." I said. "I'll make sure of it."**

My hand subconsciously reached to the place on my chest that normally held his dogtags, though I felt nothing as I was still only in my undersuit.

 **We rounded a corner, only to be greeted by the flying body of a marine, behind him, an Elite Major charge out. My knife met his skull faster than he could say 'Wort wort'… whatever that meant.**

" **Warning! Launch facility has been breached!" I heard the loudspeaker say as the Elite's body collapsed to the ground.**

" **Nooooo… Really?" I sarcastically remarked as I wiped off my blade.**

 **Moving further into the base, were met with the grizzly scene of an entire squad of marines slaughtered; no Covenant bodies to show for their sacrifice.**

The rest of my team shifted uncomfortably at the sight, but didn't make any comments.

 **I grabbed a shotgun as I passed a rack full of them, exchanging my assault rifle for this weapon, before pressing onwards.**

 **We reached a room with a holotank displaying a Covenant SDV-class corvette, but I blew past it instantly.**

 **In front of us, a large blast shield opened, revealing the Sabre.**

"Is that…" Blake trailed off.

I nodded. "The YSS-1000 Prototype Anti-ship Spaceplane, nicknamed the 'Sabre'."

"Its… smaller than even an Atlesian Winterfury…" Weiss commented.

I shrugged. "Smaller means more maneuverable. Especially when most of the back detaches after launch."

She blinked. "Why would it do _that_?"

"I dunno. Pelicans and Longswords can reach orbit just fine on their own. This kinda thing was much more common in pre-FTL society. Hell, the rocket that took humanity to the moon was almost as tall as an Atlesian destroyer is long, but the final payload was only about twenty meters tall."

" **Jorge, Ruby, get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it." Carter ordered.**

 **I gave a mock, two fingered salute. "You got it."**

" **What about you and Kat?" Jorge asked.**

" **Jun's on his way with a Falcon, we'll exfil after you launch. Move!"**

 **We both headed for the spacecraft. "Launch team, Sabre is prepped and ready for launch." A marine said as we passed him.**

 **We approached the Sabre and I locked both of my larger weapons to holsters on the craft as I climbed into my seat. Behind me, I heard Jorge clamber into his.**

 **A loud thump could be heard, signifying the gangway's disconnecting, soon after, the canopy slid shut.**

" **Struts disengaged, commencing launch in T-minus 5… 4… 3… 2…" A computerized voice said as I pressed several buttons, beginning the engine ignition sequence.**

 **A dull roar could be heard coming from the back of the craft as the 1** **st** **stage engines completed their startup procedures. Moments later, the craft began to lurch forward along the launch rails.**

 **The entire ship shook vigorously as we flew through the lower atmosphere. "First stage engine burn nominal." The ship's dumb AI announced. A few more seconds passed before the rumbling started to die down. "Stage separation in 3… 2… 1… Stage separation." A series of dull thumps echoed throughout the craft. A whirring sound echoed as the automated ascent program continued onto its next step shortly before the craft once again lurched forward. "Second stage ignition confirmed."**

 **The program tilted its trajectory laterally, giving us a good view of the planet below.**

"Woah…" My sister said, echoing their thoughts.

"It's…" Weiss began. "It's beautiful…"

Blake only dumbly nodded.

"Are other planets like this?" My partner asked.

"Yes and no." I said. "Reach was kinda unique for the gas clouds that surround it, but on the other hand, a lot of UEG worlds were just as beautiful in their own right."

"I can't help but notice you're using past tense." Weiss commented.

I sighed. "Yea… You'll see why soon enough."

 **The craft angled up towards Anchor-9 and I switched to manual control.**

" **Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner over." Colonel Holland said over the radio.**

" **Copy, Actual." Jorge responded. "Colonel Holland?"**

" **Affirmative, Noble Five. Welcome to Operation: UPPERCUT. I'll be your control from here on out."**

" **Understood, Colonel."**

"Why is he doing the talking?" Blake asked. "Aren't you the pilot?"

I nodded. "That's exactly the reason. As the pilot, I've got enough to focus on. Since I've got a passenger, he's technically my Radar Intercept Officer, but he'll also handle the radio in non-combat situations."

" **Noble Six, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense, you may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous with Frigate Savannah and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out."**

 **I did a few fancy maneuvers, including coming dangerously close to a frigate that was still under construction, before heading for the RV point.**

" **Multiple unidentified contacts on approach." Jorge announced.**

" **Anchor-9 to all UNSC ships, station defenses are down, requesting combat support until we can get them back online."**

" **Here we go, Six. Show them what you can do."**

 **I remember smirking under my helmet before hitting the afterburners.**

"No… _way_ …" Yang says. "We get to see an _actual_ space battle?!"

I smirked. "Heh, yep."

 **I almost cut my engines just before the point where my HUD said they'd drop out of slipspace. Almost as soon as the small Space Banshee fighters appeared, I fired on them, instantly scoring two kills, before turning around to face the rest of the flight.**

 **My twin 30mm cannons fired almost nonstop as I dodged through the debris field, chasing down the enemy light fighters like a relentless predator stalks its prey.**

 **After not even a minute, the flight of fighters was annihilated.**

"They seemed… _underwhelming_ …" Weiss commented.

"That's because they were only Space Banshees." I said. "To be honest, I'm not even sure why the Covenant puts them on the front line, they'd be much better in a scouting role. Don't worry, though. Their Seraph heavy fighters will be making an appearance in a bit."

" **Anchor-9 to all UNSC ships. Multiple impulse drive signatures detected, fighter class. Heads up, Sabres!"**

 **I quickly swerved to the right, just barely avoiding a newly-materialized Seraph, before parking myself on its tail and hammering its shields with my guns. After a few seconds of sustained fire, its shields dropped and I sent off a salvo of missiles to seal its fate.**

 **This process repeated several times as I dodged throughout the debris field once more, occasionally playing chicken with an enemy fighter, only to down their shields and finish them off with missiles.**

" **All UNSC craft in the vicinity be advised, we show a large attack force inbound. All combat air patrol and Sabres are directed to engage and defend the station."**

" **Is there any place the Covenant** _ **isn't**_ **?" Jorge asked.**

" **Heh, look on the bright side." I said. "A target rich environment just means I can fire in all directions."**

 **Just as I finished my sentence, a wave of enemy fighters, both Seraphs and Banshees, materialized in front of me.**

 **I cut a swath of 30mm fire through their ranks, destroying several light fighters, before setting my sights on another Seraph, repeating the process that I used to kill every one of its brethren so far.**

I watched my teammate's faces as my kill count racked up.

Yang's was one of complete wonder, and I could swear that I saw her lilac eyes sparkle more than once.

Blake had a look of morbid fascination, her bow twitching every so often when my craft got hit.

Weiss's expression was the most subdued, but the rapidity of her eyes darting from place to place betrayed her true interest in the recording.

" **Sabre teams be advised, multiple Phantom signatures detected on a forward-facing vector." I turned my craft towards the enemy ships just as they appeared. "Marking high value gunboat targets… now."**

"Why are they high value?" My partner asked.

"Because they carry plasma torpedoes." I said. "Those nasty things can pretty much eat the station alive."

 **I released salvo after salvo of missiles into my chosen target. Eventually, it exploded, leaving only three remaining.**

 **More fighters made themselves known, though I paid them no attention. I remember hoping that the other pilots would take care of them while I attacked the gunboats.**

 **A torrent of high-caliber tracer rounds impacted one of the gunboats, weakening its armor. I decided that** _ **that**_ **one would be my next target.**

 **Over the next few minutes, I harassed the gunboats while being harassed by enemy fighters. At one point, my shields dropped and I had to duck behind an orbital shipyard for a few seconds.**

 **Thankfully, no damage was done, and I was able to destroy the enemy gunboats before they got a clear shot at the station.**

 **The second the last Phantom was destroyed, the fighters turned-tail and ran, though that didn't stop me from scoring a few more Banshee kills.**

" **Anchor-9 to UNSC ships, all targets neutralized. Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner you are cleared to dock, activating marker."**

" **Holland to Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, Noble Five, you ready to go?"**

" **Affirmative, Colonel." Jorge responded.**

 **I did a quick flyby of the bridge on the Paris-class frigate** _ **Savannah**_ **before moving to dock.**

"Gods," Weiss said. "this is a _frigate_ to you? It's absolutely _huge_ up close."

"Yea, this is a Paris-class heavy frigate. Its fifty meters longer than a Halberd-class destroyer, though that ship's role is mainly to hunt lighter covvie ships; and its damn good at it, too."

This earned a raised eyebrow from my partner. "So, what does this 'heavy frigate' do, then?"

I shrugged. "Its mainly a fleet escort, but its also a pretty good fire support platform for ground operations."

She nodded. "Makes sense, we _did_ see it doing just that, after all."

 **I slowly inched my way into the docking bay, its arms grabbing my craft when we got close enough.**

" **I'm out here, Six." Jorge said.**

" **Warning! M-Spec Reentry pack disengaged." A computerized voice said.**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Is that the 'Reentry pack' you mentioned when we first met?"

I nodded. "Yep! It creates an extremely strong shield around the wearer, thus making it possible to actually _survive_ reentry.

" **I need your override." Jorge said.**

" **Warning! M-Spec reentry-" A loud hiss could be heard as I obliged him. "Cockpit depressurization complete. Canopy release lever armed."**

 **Jorge hit the release, causing the canopy to slide forward, before he climbed out. After making sure his aim was true, he leapt from the ship.**

"Umm… what?" Yang asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"How is he just… uhh… _floating_ there?"

I blinked before again remembering that space travel wasn't a thing here. "It has to do with the fact that everything is technically falling around him, including himself." I said. "When everything is falling at roughly the same rate, it the slightest difference in velocity will be apparent to just about everyone." I said.

"I don't get it…"

"I'll explain later, alright?"

She nodded and I resumed the recording.

" **Ez megszakad a szívem..." Jorge said.**

"What did he say?" Blake asked.

I shrugged. "No idea. I think it was Hungarian."

" **Noble Five?" Auntie Dot said. "Please repeat."**

" **Pull up surface grid nineteen by twenty-two."**

" **Gladly. ONI Sword Base: sector eighteen-G."**

" **Thermal enhance." He commanded.**

" **Noble Five, your pulse is elevated. There is nothing you can do for Doctor Halsey and the others inside Sword Base, the mathematics are determinate."**

…

" **Noble Five?"**

"… **I know…" He responded, his voice dripping with sorrow.**

 **I closed my hatch just as the comm sparked to life inside my helm. "Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, you are cleared to reengage thrusters."**

 **I did as Anchor-9 commanded.**

" **Noble Six, this is Holland."**

" **Go ahead, Colonel." I said.**

" **We've flagged a corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target." He said as I pulled away from the station. "Get our makeshift bomb on that corvette and we have our delivery system. Noble Five will escort the bomb, I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding."**

" **Understood, Colonel." I said as I flew by the Pelican docked at Anchor-9, Jorge was helping two marines prepare the slipspace drive for transport.**

 **"As she's already donated her slipspace drive to the cause, the** _ **Savannah**_ **will be joining you to provide local fire support."**

" **UNSC** _ **Savannah.**_ **Our wings may be clipped, but we've got chur back."**

 **I formed up with the other Sabres on the frigate, escorting her away from the station.**

" **I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one, Lieutenant." Holland said.**

" **We'll get it done, Colonel. Six out."**

 **The formation sped up substantially, practically leaving the station in the dust. I began fastforwarding throughout the fairly boring space travel segment.**

 **After a few seconds, I stopped when we entered visual range of the corvette.**

" **Frigate** _ **Savannah**_ **in position. Sabre teams, sound off."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why, exactly, is a frigate here?"

"Mainly to keep the thing distracted." I answered. "That and to jam its comms. Heh, wouldn't want a battlecruiser or something showing up, now would we?"

"Fair enough."

 **The Sabres sounded off just as the** _ **Savannah**_ **began firing her point defense guns, aiming to give us a hand with the enemy fighters.**

" **Solid copy, Sabres. We're currently jamming the corvette's comms, hit it hard while it can't call for help."**

" **Agreed." Holland said as I took out a PD turret on the corvette. "Sabre teams, clear a path to that corvette."**

" **Might wanna clip her engines, colonel. See if we can slow her down."**

 **I dove through the space between the corvette's outer ring structure and the main body, taking out a newly-launched trio of drop pods in the process.**

"Why destroy those pods?" Blake asked. "They weren't a threat to you whatsoever."

"Yea, but if the covvies are usin' 'em, then they're needed somewhere." I said. "With those few 30mm shells, I probably killed a dozen covvies or more."

A lightbulb seemed to go off in Weiss's head. "So your own troops will have a slight advantage where they were being deployed…" She said.

"Got it in one."

 **My ship weaved through the corvette's hull, avoiding both friendly shells and plasma bolts simultaneously. "Good thinking,** _ **Savannah**_ **." Holland said. "That'll make boarding her a whole lot easier. Noble Six, I'm marking targets: take out the corvette's main engines."**

" **Consider it done, Colonel." I said, speeding towards my target.**

 **Only a second later, I was staring down the ship's engine cluster while hosing it with 30mm cannon shells. Less than a minute later, the engines were all critically damaged.**

"Wouldn't destroying the engines be…" My partner started.

"Counterproductive?" I supplied, earning a nod. "Well, completely destroying them would. But I was only damaging them." I said. "It'll slow 'er down, but she won't be dead in the water."

" **Warning:" Auntie Dot starts. "Energy flares detected in the corvette's aft launch bays."**

" **Heads up Sabres! Multiple impulse drive signatures detected, more bogies incoming!" The** _ **Savannah's**_ **CO said as I turned to engage the new targets.**

" **Echo two to** _ **Savannah**_ **Actual. Where are the reinforcements coming from? I thought the target was jammed."**

" **Must be squadrons coming back from patrol, Echo two."**

" **Bravo Oh-Two-Niner to Sabres, weapons free! Take 'em out before the fuckers figure out how to run to their carrier for help."**

"Must you use such… _brash_ vernacular?"

I shrugged. "Eh, gimmie a break. I'm _technically_ a sailor." I said with a shit-eating grin, only earning an eye roll from my partner.

 **A few minutes of space combat later, and the enemy ships were all eliminated.**

" **Dot," The Colonel started. "analyze all available data on that corvette. Find a way inside."**

" **Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on the top of the vessel."**

" **Noble Six, set down immediately on that corvette's topside landing pad."**

" **Roger that, Colonel." I said as I did as instructed. Hopping out of the Sabre, I noticed an Elite Ranger sortie out to meet me…**

… **only to receive a single 8-gauge slug to the face, sending it to the depths of hell where it belonged.**

"How come the sound of your weapon was muffled?" Blake asked.

"There's no air in space." I said. "That means that any sound would have to travel through my suit instead, making everything either muffled or completely silent."

"That sounds… creepy…" She remarked.

I shrugged. "Eh, ya get used to it."

" **Noble Six, the** _ **Savannah's**_ **countermeasures wont work forever." Holland said. "Find a way inside and permanently disable that corvette's communications." He paused. "As soon as we're sure the corvette can't squawk, we'll initiate UPPERCUT phase two."**

 **I shoved another shell into my weapon. "Ay-firm, Colonel. Moving to disable the comms."**

 **I dropped through the shields and landed near the corpse of an Elite Major.**

"Uhh, I didn't see you kill him." My sister commented.

"That's because I didn't." I said. "The covvies aren't above venting their ships and killing their own crew if it means stopping a boarding action."

"That seems… _heartless_." My partner remarked.

"Can't disagree there." I said. "Though it _does_ mean less enemies to kill."

 **I engaged the Covenant infantry that were stationed within the room, only a few Elite Rangers, before striding up to the center console and pressing a button.**

" **Holland to** _ **Savannah,**_ **enemy comm relay is now offline."**

" **Copy that. Halting countermeasures, diverting all power and personnel to weapons."**

" **Alright, Noble. Let's get that slipspace bomb onboard. Six, head for the hangar." Holland said in an enthusiastic tone.**

" **Copy." I said, matching his enthusiasm in my tone if not my words.**

 **Opening the door at the far end of the room, my shields took a few hits from enemy plasma, but I quickly dispatched the few Grunts and their Elite. I ducked into a corner for a moment to let my shields recharge to full before proceeding.**

" **Noble Five, meet 'em in the hangar."**

" **Affirmative, on approach." Jorge said.**

 **A few enemies laid beyond the next door. Just as I was about to kill a Grunt, a shield appeared around it, saving its life for all of two seconds.**

"Uhh… What…?"

I waved off my sister's confusion. "Eh, you'll see what's causing that in a bit."

" **Engineer!" I shouted. "Owens, Dunn, destroy it!" I ordered. "I'll draw their fire."**

" **Yes sir!" I heard over comms as tracers started peppering the ceiling.**

 **I leapt out of cover and sprinted, without using my semblance, across the room. My shields took a beating, but I dove behind a pillar just in time for them to** _ **not**_ **pop.**

" **Target eliminated." I heard one of the marines say shortly before the flaming wreck(?) of the Engineer landed next to me.**

" **Copy, fire at will."**

 **My shields having recharged, I leapt from cover again, spraying down the now-unshielded enemies with 7.62mm ammunition from my DMR.**

 **Only seconds later, the last enemies had fallen.**

" **Six, go for those shield controls. I need in."**

" **Don't worry big guy," I said as I jogged – by my standards – up the stairs. "I got cha." I hit the controls, causing the shields to flare and become more transparent. Moments later, his pelican soared through.**

" **Powder keg is aboard, Colonel."**

" **Copy that. Six, get your fireteam to the bridge; the corvette's refueling run with the supercarrier will have to be initiated manually."**

" **Yes sir." I said.**

" **Five, stay with the bomb. And discourage the curious."**

" **My pleasure." He said to the Colonel before turning to me. "Hear that, Lieutenant? I'll be all by my lonesome back here. Make it back quick, would ya?"**

 **I ran two fingers across my faceplate. "Back in a flash, Jorgie." I said over a private channel.**

"What does that mean?" Blake asked, evidently having caught my subtle gesture.

"It's a Spartan thing." I said with a shrug before demonstrating to everyone else… even if it may have been a little awkward without a helmet on. "It's called a 'Spartan Smile'. Generally, it's a Model-Two thing, seeing as the same motion means something else for us Threes."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"For us Threes, that gesture generally means 'Welcome', but we'll do it to another Spartans' faceplate as opposed to our own."

"Are their any other gestures you guys use?" Blake asked.

"Yea, I can teach you guys if you want." I offered. "Its not like I'll ever see another Spartan again." I shrugged.

"That might be a good idea." She said.

 **He gave a slight nod. "Just get going already, Rubes."**

 **With that, I headed out of the hangar, my marines in tow.**

 **A few Grunts suddenly came out of the woodwork, though they were easily dispatched.**

 **We headed forward, engaging and defeating a duo of Elites, one Major and one Ultra, before coming into a fire control room of sorts.**

" _ **Savannah**_ **to Holland: sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel!"**

" **Copy** _ **Savannah,**_ **our team is in. Disengage!"**

 **Outside the window, I saw several plasma bolts impact the frigate.**

" **Break off! Break off! Hull breach, reactors flaring! Damnit, I'm losi-"**

 **Suddenly, the ship is engulfed in flames centered around a large explosion near her mid-section.**

"Gods…" My partner says.

I only solemnly nodded, knowing that this is the moment where things started to go to shit.

" _ **Savannah**_ **Actual, can you hear me?" Holland tried, receiving no answer.**

 **I let out a low growl.**

" **Frigate's gone, Six." Jorge said, only now making me realize the comms were on.**

 **I spied an Elite Ultra with its back turned to me. Deciding it would be a great way to relieve my newly-acquired guilt for letting them die, I unsheathed my knife and burst into a cloud of rose petals.**

 **I rematerialized the second I impacted the Elite's back and started stabbing it repeatedly. In the moment, I didn't keep track of how many new holes I gave it, but now I see that it had approximately 27 of them.**

" **Noble, you're in deep with no cover. Get that corvette moving and get the hell outta there!" He ordered, though I don't remember hearing him over the sound of me stabbing the Elite.**

…

" **Noble, do you copy?"**

 **I let out a sigh. "I'm here, Colonel. Repeat your last."**

" **Copy, I said that you need to get the corvette moving and exfil immediately."**

" **Copy that." I said in a somewhat defeated tone.**

 **I made my way to the bridge and, in a fit of rage, activated my semblance.**

 **I sped around the room, shotgun blasts echoing all around me as enemies fell, and just simply** _ **slaughtered**_ **them.**

 **Even though my shield was drained, and my aura had taken a few hits due to being reckless, I still accomplished my task within a few seconds.**

 **I pressed the button activating the refueling run. "Corvette's on its way, Colonel."**

" **Six! Our ride outta here's taking heavy fire! Get back to the hangar!"**

" **On the way." I responded.**

 **I jogged through the hallways, leaving a grenade as a going-away present for a stray group of Jackals rather than actually dealing with them.**

" **At your earliest convenience, Noble Six."**

"That was kind of uncalled for." Blake commented at Jorge's snide remark.

"I could've been faster…" I responded, causing everyone to look at me.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

I gave my partner a sad smile. "You'll see…"

 **I announced my entrance to the hangar by braining an Elite Major with my shotgun.**

" **Good of you to come, hostiles are pounding the hell outta the Pelican."**

 **Covenant infantry swarmed us the second I announced my presence, though it was fairly easy to beat them back, given that they didn't use any heavy units. Eventually, the place was clear, though not without cost.**

 **All of the marines had perished in the fighting.**

 **Hoisting two of the bodies on my shoulders, I began to return to the Pelican.**

 **Jorge nodded, solemnly, but still spoke up. "** _ **Savannah**_ **did a number on the door. There's no way back up to the Sabres. Form up on me."**

 **I nodded to him before resting the bodies in the cargo hold.**

" **Damnit… So… its gonna be like** _ **that**_ **." I heard him say before he whacks the bomb.**

 **He turns to me. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thruster gimbal is toast, which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity."**

"… **And the good news?" I asked, not liking where this was going.**

" **That was the good news." He said. "Bad news is, the timer's fried. I'm gonna have to fire it manually."**

 **I felt a pang of sadness, both in my memory and in the current time. "…Jorge…" I said. "I can do this, you've gotta go back down there." I tried to reason, only for him to shake his head.**

" **You're a super-powered super-soldier." He said, throwing one of my lines back at me. "You're more valuable."**

I felt tears start welling up in my eyes.

 **He lifted his head slightly and retrieved his dogtags before handing them to me.**

 **Hesitantly, I accepted, before enveloping him in a hug.**

 **We held the embrace for several moments before Dot started chirping in our ears. "At current velocity, fifty-three seco-."**

" **Shut up, Dot." I interrupted, giving my friend one last squeeze before letting go.**

 **I gave him a nod and reached up to his faceplate, swiping two fingers across it. "Good luck."**

" **Same to you." He said. "Tell 'em to make it count."**

 **I nodded. "Yes sir." Before jumping from the corvette.**

By now, I noticed that the occasional wet streak adorned my cheeks.

"…Ruby?" My sister said. "Are you okay?"

I turned to her for a moment before my shoulders slumped.

Moments later, I felt a pair of arms encircle me.

Then a second.

Finally, a third.

I was about to tell them to get off me, but then I noticed just how… nice this felt.

There was no tension, no bullets or plasma bolts whizzing over our heads, just my team's warm embrace.

I returned my sister's embrace, burying my head into her shoulder in the process.

"…Thanks…" I let out.

"I'm here for you, sis." She said, gently stroking my hair, even if it was a bit difficult getting to it under our other two teammates.

I smiled a true, genuine smile for the first time in I don't even know how long.

After what felt like seconds, but my neural implant informed me it was over ten minutes, we finally broke the embrace.

"Thank you, guys…" I said.

'They _actually_ care about me.' I thought to myself. 'I can't let them become another Noble Team… I have to train them to be the best they can be.' It would be hard on them, but they would be much better off in the long run. 'Maybe some armor to go along with their weapons…' I thought as we resumed the video.

* * *

(A/N) Aaaand there we go! It's finally done!

The ending cutscene of 'Long Night of Solace' will get rolled into the next chapter because it just makes more sense with what I'm planning to do. Also, it was a good place to leave off.

Not really much else to say that I can think of, so on to the reviews!

 **TheFishKing –** Yep, definitely.

 **Raw666 –** If I end up doing something like that, it'd be in the main story. But not a bad idea.

 **Shadow Walker of Fire –** I'm still wondering why they had a French-built tank in there, though, lol. Otherwise, yea, the museum was great. Funnily enough, the metal detector got me too (damn phone holster).

 **Guest 001 –** It was so long ago that I don't even remember, lol. But yea, that sucked.

 **Guest 002 –** Hopefully it didn't disappoint.

 **Artyom-Dreizehn –** Come to think of it, they probably wouldn't have ever thought they'd see what space _actually_ looks like, would they? Given that dust only works in atmo.

 **Red October 700 –** Sadly, I'm not planning on writing that blooper reel. Come to think of it, are there any more sections where an AI _can_ drive you around? I'm replaying Halo: Reach as I write this after not even touching it in literal years, so my memory's a bit foggy. I probably won't be adding the RvB music, though.

 **Ninja6345 –** Turns out I was using an idiotic method of writing it. I'd write all of the Halo: Reach segments, leaving gaps for the reactions, then going back after I'd finished and writing RWBY's parts in. That was tedious AF. Now I'm writing them concurrently and switching back and forth gives _just_ enough variety to make it tolerable. I'd still rather be writing ASH or Ruby B-312, but its no longer a slug fest at the very least. Also, glad you're enjoying it!

 **Dovah117 –** Yea, kinda pushed the fleet to next chapter, sorry about that… I did that because this was a good stopping point, and plus, the chapter's already 7k+ words, so its not like I'm cutting corners.

And that's it for reviews! I'm gonna really try to get back on a schedule with these things, but no promises. See y'all in '…Like a Spartan Scorned', the next chapter.


	5. Like A Spartan Scorned

( **IMPORTANT** A/N) Sorry, no ASH to go along with this upload. I finally finished planning out the ending and I want it to coincide with an event in the main series, thus I'll be releasing a chapter of ASH alongside a chapter of Ruby B-312.

With that brings some good news!

That being that I want to finish _this_ and only _this_ before those two come back, meaning that you'll likely get the Winter Character Short about two weeks after this is done, so anywhere between Mid-March to Early-April. With the way the old plan was going, it'd be the end of April _at least_.

Bad news, though, is that Ch4 'Paradise Lost' won't come out 'til Ruby B-312 starts back up. Anyways, enough of that, on to the chapter!

Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/27/19

* * *

Chapter Five - …Like A Spartan Scorned

* * *

 **I pivoted around, ensuring that both Covenant ships would be in my sights as I fell. A short burst of my suit's thrusters ensured that what little rotational velocity I had incurred was neutralized.**

 **My legs trailed behind me as I looked 'up' at the duo of ships, the corvette looking like an ant in comparison to the massive supercarrier.**

"Gods…" Weiss said. "How large did you say these ships were, again?"

"Corvette's a little under a kilometer long, the supercarrier's about 29 kilometers."

"Gods…" She trailed off.

 **Suddenly, the underside of the corvette began to spark with purple energy, a tiny ball blinking in and out of existence until it stabilized moments later.**

 **The ball grew to a massive size, easily encompassing the middle third of the supercarrier, before blinking out of existence only a second later; the carrier being split in two afterwards.**

I looked around, gauging my teammates' reactions. Weiss's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her mouth slightly ajar. Blake's was more schooled, though I could tell that she was just as shocked as my partner. Yang, however, was the most humerous, seeing as how she had literally fallen off her crate and now laid, unmoving, on the dirty concrete floor.

"Just… like that?" Blake commented. "That ship was two orders of magnitude larger than almost any Atlesian ship out there, and its just… _gone_?"

I glared at her. "Good men _died_ to kill that carrier."

Suddenly realizing her faux pas, she shrunk back down, her bow flexing slightly as her ears tried to lay against her head. "Oh, I didn't… I just… Umm…" She stammered. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

I crossed my arms. "Just don't do it again."

By this time, my other two teammates managed to regain their faculties and refocus their attention on the screen.

 **I floated aimlessly for several seconds, still admiring the wreck of the carrier while falling towards the planet.**

"Hang on…" My sister started. "Didn't Jorge say that the only way down was gravity? What'd he mean?"

I shrugged. "He meant that I'd be falling from orbit."

Her eyes went wide. "That's… not what happened… right?"

"That wasn't the first time I've fallen from orbit." I gave Blake a smirk. "Nor was it the last, apparently…"

Suddenly, a look of realization spread across the Cat Faunus's face. "Oh my gods, you really _did_ fall from orbit when I met you…" I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were exaggerating."

I shrugged and resumed the video.

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

"Reinforcements…?" My partner asked.

I shook my head. "No…"

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

 **I scanned the horizon of the planet and audibly gasped when I saw the Covenant armada amassing before my eyes.**

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

" **Slipspace rupture detected."**

"… **Shutup Dot…" I said in a low voice.**

"…How many _are_ there?!"

"Too many, Weiss…" I responded. "Too many…"

 **I continued to fall as I watched more and more Covenant ships drop out of slipspace. Eventually, I had to align myself properly for reentry, thus missing the rest of the Covenant fleet materializing.**

 **Flames licked the edge of my reentry pack's overshield and the background chatter that had been droaning on for a few seconds now faded into static.**

"I have no idea what's going on here." My partner said. "Why are you on fire? What happened to the communications?"

"Well, I'm not _really_ on fire per se." I started. "The 'flames' aren't caused by anything burning, instead, they're there because I'm moving so fast through the atmosphere that my body is compressing the air so much that the heat I'm generating makes it glow."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's never once been stated in any science textbook I've ever studied."

"Heh, you guys've never been to space, either." I said. "Lemmie put it this way: you know how an aerosol can gets colder as you use it?"

"No."

"Uhh, yeah?" My sister said, a split second after Weiss's answer. "What gives with that?"

My partner merely gave Yang a questioning glance before I continued. "When you spray something from a can, you're removing particles from a closed system, and those particles have thermal energy." I explained. "Since there's no particles moving in to replace them, they have to spread out and become less dense. Now that they're more spread out, the energy they carry is equally dispersed, meaning a lower overall temperature." I said, pausing for a minute to let that sink in. "Now look at _my_ situation. I'm moving so fast through the atmosphere that I'm forcing more particles into the same space without letting them escape quick enough, thus, the air heats up to the point where it starts glowing."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Particles?"

I blinked, before realizing that Remnant hasn't even invented the microscope yet. "Later." I said before resuming the video.

Not even a second later, my partner clears her throat. "That still doesn't explain what happened to the communications, though."

"Oh, that one's easy." I said. "Basically, I'm ionizing some of the air around me since I'm moving so fast, and that air is scrambling any radio signals around me." She opened her mouth to ask another question, but I, instead, waved her off again and resumed the video. This time, uninterrupted.

 **I continued to fall.**

 **Eventually, the plasma surrounding me faded and gave way to a Vapor Cone as I shot through a particularly fluffy cloud.**

 **After the very long and, to me, boring descent, I slammed into the ground; a crater a few meters in diameter forming around my landing site.**

" **Guhh…" I groaned as I sat up, checking myself for any injuries in the process. I reached for my weapons, only to find my DMR absent and my shotgun broken in two by my landing. "Great…" I sighed before standing up and looking to the re-entry pack; it having separated from me in the last kilometer or so before landing.**

 **I slowly walked over to the pack, my aura aching slightly from the landing, but I was otherwise fine. As I reached my destination, I crouched down and pulled out a Magnum before chambering a round with a satisfying 'cu-click'.**

 **As I turned around, I saw the burning wreck of the** _ **Long Night of Solace**_ **sprawled out on a nearby mountain range. Flaming debris could be seen re-entering very clearly against the backdrop of the night sky.**

"Gods…" My sister began. "That isn't even all of it…"

"Nope." I said. "CSO-classes are _huge_." I commented. "Anyways, we're about half-way done now and nothing really happens for an entire week, do you guys wanna call it a night? Its already midnight."

"Not a chance." My partner said.

"Agreed."

"Uhh, nope."

I shrugged. "Okay then, but just lemmie know when you guys're tired." I said as I started fast-forwarding to the next interesting bit.

As I was doing that, Weiss spoke up. "Hang on a minute, what were you doing for an entire week?"

"Literally just walking across the countryside. Maybe fighting off a covvie patrol here and there. Nothing really interesting." I said as the video finally reached the next part I'd wanted to show.

 **As I crested a hill, a burning city could be seen with three SDV-class corvettes hanging above it. I heard automatic gunfire in the distance, likely some lingering UNSC personnel doing their best to rescue the straggling civilians that were no doubt left behind.**

"New Alexandria," I said. "Jewel of Eposz…"

I started fast-forwarding to the point where I was actually _in_ the city while my teammates asked me questions that I didn't really know the answer to, such as population, size, etc.

 **I resumed just as I'd landed after vaulting over a small railing. As I got back up, my radio crackled to life. "This is Kilo Dispatch," The voice said as two Falcons flew overhead. "advance to Traxus Tower. Evacuation will commence ASAP."**

" **Copy, Dispatch. What's the status of the tower pad?" Another voice said as I entered a dark and damaged building.**

" **Tower pad is green. Let's move those civilians before it changes."**

" **Copy, Dispatch. Four-Zero out."**

 **I exited the building and rounded the corner of a stairwell, only to find a pack of Skirmishers waiting for me.**

 **Moments later, every one laid dead, one additional hole in their heads than they were born with.**

" **Romeo company be advised: we have reports of Covenant suicide squads." Yet another voice said.**

My partner blinked. "'Suicide squads'? Why would they use such a... _disturbing_ tactic?"

I shrugged. "They're the _Covenant_." I said. "They don't have any issues with knowingly sending their men to their deaths. Heh, not that I'll complain, though."

" **You've gotta be kidding me…"**

" **That's a negative," The previous voice said. "keep your eyes open, Troopers."**

 **I entered another building and was greeted by several Grunts, each holding a pair of plasma grenades in their hands.**

 **Initially, I targeted the lead one's head, but before I shot, I shifted my aim to one of the grenades in its hands.**

 **I loosed a round, causing my target to explode while taking the rest of the squad with it. I remember grinning under my helmet.**

" **Heh, efficient." I said under my breath as I moved forward.**

 **I paused when I saw an unattended plasma pistol. Even if they may be some of the worst weapons the covvies use, Suicide Grunts weren't worth the limited ammo that I had for my pistol, thus, I picked it up.**

" **Kilo Two-Six this is Kilo Four-Zero. Covenant corvette is rainin' hell on us! Final Protective Fire-One, danger close, on my command, over!" I heard as I stepped into the basement.**

 **Several more grunts appeared, and I opened fire as the voices kept squawking through the radio. "Copy, Kilo Four-Zero. FPF-One at your command."**

" **Fire FPF-One, over."**

" **Firing FPF-One… Shot."**

" **Hold on to your helmets!"**

 **The ground shook just as the last Grunt dropped.**

Seeing my teammate's confused looks, I decided to preemptively answer their question. "That was a MAC gun." I said. "A small one, but it was still a MAC none-the-less."

" **Kilo Four-Zero: requesting FPF sit-rep."**

" **Negative, Two-Six!" Came the response as I crossed into another room filled with Suicide Grunts. "Corvette's still commin'!"**

" **Copy, Four-Zero. Firing FPF-Two…" I unleashed a torrent of green plasma onto the Grunt horde, dropping the leader and detonating its explosives. "Shot."**

 **The ground shook again, slightly throwing off one of my steps, though I recovered quickly.**

" **Damn! How da ya stop that thing?!"**

 **I entered another door, but instead of more cannon fodder, I was greeted by a trio of terrified civilians.**

" **Help!" I heard one of my new charges say as a Spirit pulled up; its hatch open.**

 **I opened fire immediately, though the fire from my plasma pistol was extremely ineffective. Moments later, the dropship redeployed to drop off its troops.**

" **Picked up a friendly." I heard a Trooper say.**

" **A Spartan?" Another said. "Where the hell'd _she_ come from?"**

" **Girly, I came up from hell** _ **specifically**_ **to drag some Covenant back with me." I said in a calm manner as I picked up the discarded MA37 of a fallen Trooper.**

"Were you always so dramatic?" Blake asked, an eyebrow raised.

I shrugged. "Eh, kinda hard not to say a one-liner every once in a while."

" **Wait… She's the Reaper!"**

" **Heh, damn right." I said as I sprinted forward, without my semblance, and tackled a Brute that had a civilian pinned under its foot.**

 **It made a valiant effort to stay standing, but I swung around onto its back and shanked it multiple times in the throat before landing and whipping it around; reducing the once formidable opponent into an overgrown meatshield. As it slumped to the ground, it absorbed multiple plasma bolts, allowing me to get the civvie behind cover unmolested.**

"… **Damn Brutes…" I muttered.**

"Wait…" Weiss said. "Are those-"

"Yeah." I said. "Take a good long look," I paused the video as I was looking at the newly-deceased alien. " _That_ is a Brute."

"It looks like some sort of Apoid Hyper-Faunus." Blake commented.

"It might look that way, but if all Ape Faunus were like Brutes, I'd've killed them already." I said, making her blink. "But they're not." I said, smiling. "Though if I meet _anyone_ , Ape Faunus or not, that's as monstrous as _those_ things… I'll kill 'em without a second thought."

"That's…" My sister started. began.

"Cold? Ruthless?" Blake suggested. "I mean, I know we just saw one of them pin down a civilian," She started. "and _that's_ enough of an excuse to stop whoever's doing that, but they can't _all_ be bad."

My partner gave out a 'hmph'. "And why can't they be?" She said. "Throughout this entire evening, we've seen nothing but wanton destruction from the Covenant. Its painfully obvious that whomever, no, _what_ ever associates with them is irredeemable."

"Weiss is right." I said. "This is just a snippet of the almost three decade long Human-Covenant war. A snippet where I didn't see that many civilian casualties." I sighed. "If we _somehow_ pick up someone from the UNSC, just ask 'em what happened on Draco III."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your full title the 'Reaper of Draco'?"

"Yeah…" I said. "I got it from that 'battle'." I said with airquotes. "I… don't wanna talk about that now, though… There's enough shit that's gonna happen in the next few missions."

I felt my sister give me a one-armed hug as she sat beside me. "We're here for you." She said before resting her head against my shoulder.

I gave her a smile, not that she could see it, and resumed the video.

 **I mopped up the other Brutes with ease, each only taking about a magazine from my AR. "Anyone got a spare mag or two?" I asked. "I'm down to my last one."**

 **A woman ran up to me and thrust a couple of mags into my hands. "You really saved our asses back there, Spartan. This is the least I could do."**

 **I gave her a nod just as a door behind her opened. "Contacts!" I shouted, quickly stepping between the Trooper and the newly-revealed targets. The group consisted of three Skirmishers and a Brute. "You guys grab the little fuckers! I got the big one!"**

" **You got it, Lieutenant!" She shouted as the Brute Minor charged us.**

 **Deciding to completely abandon any hope it had of winning, the Ape decided it would be a good idea to charge me, a deep howl emanating from its fanged muzzle.**

 **I remember smirking under my helmet as it approached while drawing my knife and holstering my rifle.**

 **I grabbed its forearm, just as it descended into grappling range, with my free hand. Instead of** _ **stopping**_ **the attack, I redirected it; using the beast's own momentum against it and pulling it to the ground.**

 **Without a moment's hesitation, I dove onto my opponent and stabbed it a dozen or so times in the throat, screaming a wordless battlecry all the while.**

 **I looked over to the questioning and somewhat fearful gazes of the Troopers. "Its personal with these** _ **things**_ **." I commented, giving the corpse an experimental kick for good measure.**

"Suddenly, I understand why you don't want to be compared to them." My partner said. "I may not have seen your personal reason, but I at least know why you almost strangled me that one day."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah… sorry about that…" I said. "Just… don't do it again…"

She gave me a curt nod. "Oh, I am _well_ aware of how bad for my health that would be." She said with a roll of her eyes.

I gave a slight chuckle at her joke as Blake raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Maybe some other time." I said. "Thanks for the offer, though."

She gave an affirmative hum as I resumed the video.

 **I nodded my head towards the doorway. "Let's get a move on." I said as I stepped over the Skirmisher bodies, all of them riddled with multiple 7.62mm holes.**

 **An unintelligible audio announcement plays over the loudspeakers as I open fire on a pack of Grunts just inside Traxus Tower.**

 **They fled, but the action didn't do them any good, as they met the same fate as their Skirmisher cousins outside.**

 **My face twisted into a snarl as I rounded the top of the stairs and came face to face with more Brutes.**

 **I charged the first one and shoved my MA37 into its maw before spinning it around so the bullets exiting its skull would hit its packmate.**

 **Moments later, the first Brute lay dead and the one behind it was clutching its chest in agony. I quickly rushed over and ended its life with a few more rounds to the head.**

 **Just as my foe dropped with an audible -THUD-, I saw a civilian running around out of cover, dodging rounds clumsily all the while.**

"What is he doing?!" My partner shouted, though I didn't respond. My past self would do that for me.

 **I rushed forwards and grabbed him by the collar before pulling him into a room. "What're you doing?!" I shouted.**

 **He just looked at me with a somewhat blank expression, the only real defining feature being that his pupils were dialated and the whites of his eyes were blood-red.**

Weiss blinked. "Is he…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, he's high." I said. "In the middle of an alien invasion."

She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I don't even…" She sighed. "Just… _what_?"

I shrugged. "Some people need their fix, end of the world be damned."

" **Okay then…" I muttered under my breath. "Stay here until we come get you." I commanded as I stepped back out into the chaos.**

 **A dozen or so meters in front of me now stood the squad of Troopers I'd found, though between us stood a pair of Jackals; their backs turned to me.**

 **I remember grinning under my helmet as I pulled out a pair of knives. Thankfully, for me at least, the pair were close enough to where I could tackle both of them at the same time; shoving one knife each into the base of their skulls after they hit the ground.**

 **I immediately popped up after my work was finished and scanned the area. "AO is clear." I announced after a minute. "You," I said, pointing to a Trooper. "I left a druggie in that room behind me," I said, nodding my head towards said room. "go get him, please."**

 **He gave a curt nod and went to accomplish his task as I activated the elevator.**

…

" **What the hell's takin' so long?!" One of the Troopers shouted over comms.**

" **Uhh, we're evacuating civilians on the floor below you." We heard the Texan say over comms. "'Soon as they reach the cargo port, I'll send the elevator back up!"**

" **Great." I said as both the Trooper and the civilian got back to us. "Defensive positions, everyone!" It was then that I noticed a Phantom pull into the courtyard. "We're gonna have company!"**

 **I quickly threw myself up against a doorway and checked the ammo in my AR, nodding to myself when it was full.**

 **Moments later a pair of Brutes charged through, weapons raised.**

 **I unloaded an entire magazine into them, but most were body shots and thus, fairly ineffective.**

 **One of them got into melee range of me and threw a massive overhead hammer-fist at me. I blocked the attack by throwing up my now-empty weapon, though it was noticeably bent at the center; making it unusable.**

My sister blinked. "You uhh… you don't channel your aura into your weapons?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Not really. I mean, I've read about it when I was doing my remedial aura class, but I just never saw a reason to." I said, shrugging.

"Why not?" My partner asked. "As long as your aura is up, it makes any weapon virtually unbreakable."

"Keep in mind that, before I came here, I was taught that a weapon was nothing more than a tool. Tools break from time to time, and what do you do when they do?" I asked. "You replace them." I paused in thought. "That said, I don't really have the resources to replace my new assault rifle if it should break, so I might do that from now on."

My partner nodded in satisfaction. "Good." She said. "Keep in mind that any item imbued with dust can interact with aura in some way, shape, or form."

"Well, then I guess I _couldn't've_ put my aura into those weapons." I said. "Considering they didn't use any dust whatsoever."

She blinked before facepalming. "…Of course…" She said. "I forgot that your civilization doesn't _use_ dust for a moment."

I shrugged before resuming the recording.

 **I threw the weapon aside, pulling out my knife simultaneously with my free hand and jamming it into the base of one's neck.**

 **Thinking on my feet, I grabbed its Spiker, which was currently falling to the ground, and turned it on my second foe.**

 **It only took a few rounds to the head in order to drop the Ape, but behind him, I saw a Brute Major charging forward; a Gravity Hammer swaying in its grip.**

Weiss crossed her arms. "It's fitting that a species called 'Brutes' gave their upper ranks something as crude as a hammer."

 **I quickly grabbed the second spiker that was on the ground, dropped by the second Minor that I'd killed, and opened fire on the charging Ape.**

 **Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my motion tracker light up with a big red contact charging from behind me.**

 **Knowing what it likely was, I dove out of the way just in time to witness my former position be turned into a crater, courtesy of** _ **another**_ **Brute Major wielding a Gravity Hammer.**

"Wow…" My sister said. "They'd give _Nora_ a run for her money."

"Heh, don't let her hear ya say that, sis." I commented.

My partner hummed. "Who do you think would win in a fight: Her or that… _Brute_ …"

"Nora, hands down." I immediately said. "They might be stronger, but she's smarter than she lets on. Plus, _she_ has aura; they don't." I hummed. "But if they were to send in a pair o' Chieftains, she'd be in trouble."

"Is that what they are?" Weiss asked. "Brute Chieftains?"

"Those? No." I answered, shaking my head. "Those're just Majors. You'll know a Chieftain when you see one, _trust me_."

 **Keeping my secondary Spiker trained on its original target, I repeatedly dodged the strikes of the Brute that was now within spitting distance of myself, firing at it with my primary Spiker all the while.**

"How do you even know if you're hitting him?" Blake asked.

"Its not exactly obvious from the recording, but I was in Spartan Time for that." I said. Seeing the question on the tips of their tongues, I preemptively spoke up. "Its basically what happens when battlefield adrenaline and our augmentations combine to make everything appear to run in slow-motion."

"There were reports from the Great War that similar things had happened to some soldiers." Weiss commented. "Also, some survivors of Grimm attacks have said the same thing."

I smirked. "Could _they_ have switched between two targets multiple times a second to not only check their aim, but also to dodge melee attacks _and_ keep an eye on their motion trackers?"

She blinked. "I suppose not."

"So, is it like a switch that you flip on and off, then?" Blake asked. "Like aura?"

I shook my head. "It just happens when I need it."

 **After a particularly wild swing, I managed to get inside the reach of the nearby Major and roughly shove my Spiker into the underside of its chin. Needless to say, it fell with an audible -thump- after I'd expended several rounds.**

 **By then, my secondary Spiker had run out of ammo. Instead of reloading like a normal person, I threw the offending weapon at the other Brute, who was finally nearing me.**

 **It dodged just in time for me to bring my other Spiker to bear and put a few more rounds into its hide, finally killing it.**

" **Damn, Lieutenant." I heard on the radio as I took aim at a particularly unlucky Skirmisher. "Glad you're on our side."**

 **The elevator doors opened just a moment later. "Everyone inside!" I ordered. "Troopers, cover the civvies!"**

 **Less than a minute later, we were all crowded into the elevator.**

" **Going down. Cargo port in Traxus Tower." An automated voice said.**

" **If you're tryin' ta get ta tower, you're too late, Lieutenant." The Texan said. "Corvette over the starport pounded the hell outta the place. Cargo port's impassable and rooftop evac's a wash."**

"I like his accent. It sounds somewhat exotic." Weiss commented. "I know I won't know where you're talking about, but where is he from?"

"Technically, he could be from anywhere." I said. "But the accent itself is from Earth, specifically, the southern United States." I shrugged. "I keep thinking its from the state of Texas, though."

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind." She said.

" **We could use the executive landing pad, 'cept there's no easy way to get there." He continued. "A group of ODST Specialists're workin' a plan… they might appreciate some backup."**

"Ohdeestee?" Blake asked.

"It's an abbreviation for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper." I clarified. "Basically, they're the elite members of the UNSC Marine Corps that drop from orbit straight into a trouble spot."

My partner raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'drop'? I thought only Spartans could do that."

"Without assistance, yeah." I said. "But they get these neat little pods, kinda like the ones you saw the covvies using outside the Sabre launch facility."

"I thought the UNSC wasn't very successful in adapting Covenant technology." Was her next question.

"We kinda didn't, though." I said. "The idea goes all the way back to the 20th century in the Science Fiction novel _Starship Troopers_ , where elite soldiers called the 'Mobile Infantry' dropped from orbit in pods; the author getting the idea from Paratroopers during World War Two. The first time we actually _used_ something similar was in the mid-22nd century during the Interplanetary War, where Drop-Jet Troopers were used in the Mars campaign."

"Interesting." Weiss commented. "Perhaps Atlas could use a similar tactic with their Specialists."

I shrugged. "It'd be effective, no doubt. But good luck convincing anyone it's a good idea, given that Remnant hasn't even invented Paratroopers yet."

"Ah yes, what _are_ those, by the way?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Basically, someone who would jump out of an aircraft and land via Parachute, typically, behind enemy lines."

"Wouldn't they be cut off from resupply?"

"Yeah, that's the danger of using them." I said. "They need to be linked-up with ASAP to be effective, but on the flip side, they can be invaluable in an assault against positions fortified from only one direction." I hummed. "But we're getting off-track, let's get back to it."

" **Can do." I said as the elevator doors opened and we all filed out.**

 **I slammed a new magazine, one that I'd looted, into my new Spiker just as I walked out of the elevator. "On the other side of the hall there, Lieutenant." A Trooper said. "Right through triage."**

 **Almost a dozen people, both civilians and soldiers, were sat along the hallway. All of them adorned wounds of some kind, whether it be plasma burns, stray debris, or straight-up missing limbs. A pair of Army Medics scrambled from patient to patient, but supplies were obviously limited, and thus, they had to resort to merely keeping their charges alive for the time being.**

"Gods…" Weiss commented, echoing the thoughts of all of us.

"This is what the Covenant does." I said. "They routinely attack civilian targets and leave nothing but destruction and despair in their wake." I sighed. "It'd be the same as if you gave the Grimm starships and plasma guns."

Nobody had any response for that, so I just resumed the video.

 **A stream of blue plasma bolts shot through an open door on the far side of the hallway, just passed an ODST standing guard.**

 **I rushed up as he returned fire, though, as I got there, the offending Banshee flew off.**

" **Covvies've been pounding the hell outta this place ever since their corvette let up." He said as another ODST shot a rocket at another Banshee, blowing it up. Off to the side, I saw a weapon rack filled with DMRs. Knowing that I would likely be engaging enemies over a longer distance, I took one.**

" **Hey," Yet another ODST, this one with a jetpack, said as he approached. "you're that Spartan the radio's been buzzin' about."**

 **I nodded. "Yeah. You guys got a plan?"**

" **We're gonna capture the executive landing pad so the evac birds can land." He shrugged. "Got an extra jetpack if ya think ya can keep up."**

Normally, I would've expected someone to comment on me using a jetpack, but, from their expressions, I could tell they were still too shell-shocked to really be paying attention. They'd need time, and, seeing as not much of significance happens for a while, the white noise of the recording would help them.

 **We strode onwards atop a warped walkway into a makeshift armory. I nodded as I saw the offending piece of equipment. "Been a while since I jumped with you Marine boys," I quipped. "I think its time to get back in the thick of things." I said, donning the jetpack.**

" **Heh, welcome to the Bullfrogs." He said as we strode up to meet his two squadmates.**

" **Alright! Other side, on my mark!" Their leader, a First Lieutenant, said. "Three, two, one – Jump!"**

 **We all jumped from platform to platform, eventually landing on the far side.**

 **As I ascended a pair of stairs in front of me, I switched to my newly-acquired rifle and put a few rounds into the trio of Jackals that were as-of-yet-unaware of my presence, dropping them.**

 **The terrified screech of a Grunt could be heard as I unloaded more rounds into its compatriots, stopping when its body fell, dead.**

 **My motion tracker lit up with red as a plasma grenade flew past my visor. I quickly turned to the source and found myself face-to-face with a pack of Brutes; a hammer-wielding Major standing atop a raised platform.**

 **I unloaded several more rounds into my foes, dropping one of the three packmates, before my rifle clicked empty.**

 **The heated explosion of the previously thrown grenade sounded from behind me while orange spikes threatened to impale me from the front, though** _ **those**_ **could, and were, dodged as I pulled out my own Spiker.**

 **Seeing its packmates' difficulty, the Major jumped down and charged me just as another one fell. Knowing that close-quarters combat was inevitable, I still concentrated on taking down the remaining Minor.**

I looked around without pausing the recording, trying to gauge my teammates' responsiveness. Blake had, at least somewhat, snapped out of her stupor, and was now passively paying attention.

Yang was only slightly further behind her partner in attentiveness, but Weiss was still completely out of it.

I grasped my partner's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, eliciting a slight gasp of surprise as she looked at me; eyes still wide and scared.

I gave her a reassuring smile, prompting a solemn nod before we both turned back to the recording.

" **Head up to the roof level, Spartan." I heard as I entered a spacious building.**

 **I jetpacked up to a skyway above me before turning around and leaping up to a higher level.**

 **As I exited the building, I saw a Phantom harassing a group of civilians who, thankfully, were in good cover. Before I could do anything, the dropship flew off.**

" **Over here, Spartan!" One of the ODSTs shouts.**

 **I engage about a dozen Covenant infantry, laying waste to the cannon fodder within moments, but the three Brute Majors are more challenging. Just as I finish putting a spike into one's head, I hear a roar from behind me and barely dodge the swing of a Gravity hammer.**

 **Thinking quickly, I jump and activate my jetpack while leaving a parting gift in the form of a plasma grenade.**

 **The Ape just looks at it stupidly as it explodes, taking its legs and most of its torso with it. The foe lets out a pained groan as its life fades.**

 **Still airborne, I whip out my DMR and start unloading on the last Brute, who drops within moments.**

"I…" Weiss starts. "I know the Covenant are… horrible _monsters_ , but how can you be so… _casual_ about ending lives?" She asks in a small voice.

I shrugged. "I've killed so many that it's lost its novelty." I said, simply. "Don't get me wrong, in my first year or so of combat operations, every kill was a small victory. But after a decade of war, it's kinda just another day at the office for me."

She blinked. "That means that you were sent out on missions almost as soon as you were augmented." She observed.

"Yeah. 'Gave me a month or two to get used to my augs, then sent me out. Didn't have that armor 'til just under a year ago, though."

"Uhh, what were you wearing, then?" My sister asked.

"A suit of MKIV/B Armor colored the same way." I said before crossing my arms. "Before that, a shittier version of MJOLNIR called Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor." I rolled my eyes. "Some twelfth birthday present…" I paused. "But that's in the past, let's get back to watching this thing."

 **I ascended another flight of steps, annihilating any Covenant I encountered along the way. Eventually, I came to a bridge and, just as I'd rounded the corner, green fuel-rod shots streaked past me.**

" **Woah!" I yelled. "Fuel rods!"**

" **Thanks for the heads-up!" The leader said. "Parks! Flank 'em!"**

" **Yes sir!" The ODST that had originally greeted me responded before jumping off the building, his jetpack blazing behind him.**

 **I peaked my head out of cover for just long enough to see him reappear on the other side of the divide. With the enemy distracted, I charged forwards, gun blazing, and together, we took the enemy position with ease… even if the only enemies turned out to be Grunts with a pair of Jackals.**

 **Just as I passed it, I exchanged my nearly-empty Spiker for the Fuel Rod Gun, previously wielded by a particularly ornery Grunt, and stormed into the final building before the executive 'pad.**

 **To the left, atop a staircase, were a pair of Brute Minors. These 'lucky' Apes were the first to receive a pair of fuel rods directly to the face.**

 **Whipping around to the right, another Brute took aim at me with a Spiker. Moments later, it lay dead in a puddle of green plasma.**

 **Just as I was starting to blitz through the enemy position, another FRG wielder showed itself.**

Weiss blinked. "Is that…"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's a Chieftain."

"He looks terrifying." She said.

I shrugged. "At least you don't have to ask who won." I quipped before resuming the video.

 **We exchanged bolt after bolt, both of our shields popping, but in the end, the Brute just didn't have the durability an aura afforded to me.**

 **Picking up its ammunition, I strode outside and quickly dispatched the pair of Shade turrets that harassed our aircraft.**

" **Good work, Spartan." I heard.** **"** **Yankee Niner to Echo Dispatch: landing pad is clear, send in the evac birds."**

" **Copy, Yankee Niner. Birds away."**

 **The original ODST, Parks, if I recalled correctly, approached me. "Pleasure jumpin' with ya Spartan."**

 **I nodded. "Likewise, Helljumper."**

"What does that mean?" My partner questioned.

"It's just the generic nickname for ODSTs." I explained. "The reasoning is that they 'jump feet-first into hell', thus, are Helljumpers."

"They seemed to keep up rather well." Blake commented.

I nodded. "Yeah, Helljumpers are some of the best non-augmented soldiers out there. I'd work with the Bullfrogs anytime if I got the chance."

 **I looked behind me as two Falcons landed. "Looks like my ride's here, let's do this again sometime."**

 **He gave a mock, two-fingered salute. "You betcha." He said shortly before I boarded my craft.**

 **The bird took off, prompting the Pilot to speak up. "The city's been under siege for the last five days." She said. "Thought we had it in hand, then those corvettes showed up."**

" **Heh, I know the feeling…" I reminisced.**

" **Our fleet's scattered, pulling back." She continued. "Hell, we all got orders to evacuate. Guess some of us just don't like leaving a job half-finished…"**

Blake, for the first time that I've seen, gave an honest, genuine smile. "They would make good Huntsmen with that attitude."

I nodded in agreement. "Say what you want about Humanity, but when extinction's on the line, we'll stick together."

Weiss hummed. "I suppose our two civilizations aren't too different after all." She admitted. "Yours is just on a larger scale while facing a stronger threat."

I shrugged. "Well, you're not wrong."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Did you just meet me? Of course I'm not."

"Heh, the Ice Queen's makin' jokes now. What's next, a thousand-year-old wizard?"

"Just play the video, you Oaf."

 **A Pelican landed on the 'pad, civilians swarming into its belly moments later. "Evac transport Delta-One-Five to Dispatch: Loaded up, ready to go."**

" **Delta-One-Five, this is Evac Dispatch, copy that. Proceed at your discretion."**

 **The Pilot again cued her mic. "Midtown airspace's way too hot; gonna take an alternate route."**

 **I responded with a curt- "Copy." -as we headed off in a seemingly random direction.**

" **Delta-One-Five to Dispatch: Banshee squadron on my tail! Taking fire!"**

" **Copy, Delta-One-Five, can you-"**

" **Mayday! Port engine's hit, we're goin' in! I'm gonna try ta set 'er down!"**

" **Fox Actual to UNSC Frigate** _ **Stalwart Dawn:**_ **request immediate airstrike on Covenant corvette over starport!"**

" **Solid copy, Fox Actual. Longswords are unavailable at this time, over."**

"What?!" Weiss screeched. "Don't they know what's _happening_ here?!"

I sighed. "Its probably like this all over the city…" I said, solemnly. "This is just one section of New Alexandria, and the pilot said herself that what was left of the fleet is scattered."

"But-"

"There's nothing that could be done…" I said, silencing her and turning the mood in the room sour. "Let's just get this over with…"

" **This is civilian transport Six-Echo-Two: I need to go** _ **now,**_ **Sergeant Major!"**

" **Hold on, Echo-Two.** _ **Stalwart Dawn**_ **, I have multiple personal craft loaded with civilians. I have** _ **got**_ **to get them outta the city. I need air support,** _ **now**_ **!" I heard as we passed over a battlefield between UNSC forces and Covenant infantry. I provided what support I could with the machinegun, but it was fairly ineffective by the looks of it.**

" **As soon as something frees up, you'll be the first to-"**

" **Not good enough!"**

" **I've got six-hundred souls onboard, Sergeant Major! I can't wait any longer!"**

" **Negative, Echo-Two, I can't cover you! Do** _ **not**_ **take off!"**

" _ **Damnit!"**_ **Six-Echo-Two swore as we neared the starport.**

 **Nearby, the transport began its take-off shortly before plasma mortars started impacting the area around the shuttle.**

 **Just after it had passed us, one struck home, and smoke bellowed from the newly-made hole in the craft.**

The entire room audibly gasped.

" **Oh my god!" The Pilot shouted over comms.**

" **Mayday! Mayday!"**

" **Six-Echo-Two, can you maintain altitude?"**

" **Negative! We're goin' down!"**

" **Son of a bitch!" The Pilot shouted. "I can't watch this…" She said as we turned away, the crippled starship crashing into the drink and rapidly disappearing beneath the waves.**

" **Fox Actual… should we send search-and-rescue birds?"**

 **The SGM sighed. "Negative, Dispatch… No point…"**

"Wait…" Blake said, suddenly. "Earlier, that guy said there were _six hundred_ people on that ship…"

"Oh gods…" My partner let out.

I nodded. "Yeah…" Was all I could really say.

My sister clung to me. "Just… how much… _death_ have _they_ caused?" She asked in a low voice.

I cast my gaze downwards. "…The estimated count as of when I left was around twenty-three billion…"

The room was _dead silent_ for _minutes_ as everyone took in the sheer _volume_ of deaths.

"That's…" Weiss finally said, partially snapping out of her stupor. "Remnant only has about fifty _million_ …" She said. "It'd be like if everyone on Remnant died… _four-hundred-sixty_ times over…"

"Gods…" My sister said, clutching me tighter. "Just… _why_?" She asked. " _Why_ would those… those _monsters_ do that?"

"We asked them the same thing at the beginning…" I said. "Do you know what they said?" I asked, rhetorically. "'Your destruction is the will of the gods; and we are their _instrument_ '."

"That's just… _what_?" Even _Blake_ , our team's resident bookworm, was at a loss for words here. "I don't even know if the Valerian Language has a word for this…"

"English does." I said. "It's called 'Genocide'; the act of destroying an entire race of people based solely on _what_ they are."

I saw Blake's bow collapse onto her head. "Let's just hope we don't have to introduce it…"

I nodded solemnly. "Agreed…" I said before resuming the recording.

 **My Falcon pulls up to a beachhead where a fireteam of Troopers are besieged by Covenant forces. I quickly assisted with my machinegun, this time to great effect.**

" **Spartan," The SGM greeted. "Sergeant Major Duvall. Hell of a day so far… Let's keep it from gettin' any worse, huh? Covvies are all over my missile batteries and I've got five thousand civilians waiting for passage out. I need you to arm those batteries and fire those missiles from the central terminal. Understood?"**

" **As if I needed any** _ **more**_ **reasons to kill covvies." I responded.**

" **That's what I like to hear. Corvette's been a pain in my ass for too damn long. Give it hell, Spartan."**

 **The Falcon landed and I immediately fell into line with the SGM's fireteam. We marched towards a Warthog just as a Wraith's plasma mortar impacted next to us, thankfully missing any of the Troopers.**

 **I gave a glance to the direction of the shot before physically grabbing the Trooper next to me. "Get a gunner and go distract that Wraith; I've got my own transportation."**

 **He meekly nodded and I dropped him before bursting into rose petals and charging straight for the first battery, picking up an Assault Rifle off the corpse of a fallen Trooper along the way.**

" **Civilian transport Seven-Echo-Three to Fox Actual: my engines are hot, waiting for your go."**

" **Copy that, Seven-Echo-Three. We're working on it."**

 **I reached the first battery and quickly dispatched the garrisoning Brute Minor and its accompanying Grunts.**

" **That's the first missile battery, Lieutenant. Get it armed!"**

 **I looked around for a moment before spying a big green button and pressing it.**

" **First battery is armed. The other one's to your north."**

" **Just across the bridge?" I asked.**

" **Yeah, you should be able to see it from your position."**

 **I looked over, and sure enough- "Target in sight, moving."**

" **Sergeant Major, Covenant are banging on my bay door. I've got families and wounded aboard. I gotta get airborne!"**

" **Easy, Seven-Echo-Three. Spartan's gonna clear the skies."**

" **No pressure." I said under my breath.**

"Did he hear that?" My partner asked.

"Nope, I turned my comms off temporarily." She raised an eyebrow, prompting me to point to my head. "Neural implant." I explained before resuming the video.

 **As I passed over the bridge, I saw the Warthog struggle with the Wraith. Knowing that my mission was too important to spend any real amount of time assisting, I instead lobbed a plasma grenade at the Wraith's gunner; sticking the offending Grunt in the head.**

 **I then crossed over to the second battery and dispatched its garrison just as easily as the first. Simultaneously, a Spirit loomed over the battlefield, disgorging its troops in the distance. I sighed and pressed the button on** _ **this**_ **battery.**

" **That's it, batteries primed! Now get over to the east complex and fire those missiles!"**

" **Sergeant Major, the covvies are almost through my door!" A panicked voice shouted.**

" **Steady, Echo-Three! That corvette's still up there!"**

 **Sensing the urgency, I activated my semblance again, pushing myself faster and faster until I reached the amassing Covenant horde.**

" **That's it! They've breached the landing bay!"**

 **There was a faint gasp from my end.**

" **Copy that. It's now or never Spartan."**

 **I looked at the horde in front of me, then to the** _ **open**_ **window on the room that I was meant to get to. Knowing I had absolutely** _ **no**_ **time to spare, I jetpacked my way into the building and** _ **slammed**_ **the activation button.**

" **Its active!" I shouted over comms as the batteries, in the distance, moved to acquire their targets.**

" **Missile defense online!" I heard him shout, along with a low growl coming from behind me. "All evac transports, you are cleared for takeoff! Repeat, you are clear for takeoff! Go now!"**

 **I whipped around as a contact lit up on my motion tracker…**

… **only to dive out the window as a Chieftain swiped at me with a hammer.**

" **Civilian transports away, you saved a lotta lives today, Spartan." One of the pilots said, thankfully.**

 **Seeing no reason to continue this fight, I bravely ran away into an open field.**

* * *

(A/N) Aaaand done! I don't really have much to say about this chapter, other than Druggie Civvie was inspired by the AI being stupid and _voluntarily_ acting as a meatshield during my playthrough of this level. Originally, I was just gonnamake him be terminally stupid and repeat his insperation's actionsto the letter, but that wouldn't've been as funny.

Rest in pieces, Druggie Civvie, and thanks for taking the hammer blow for me… …even if I may have died anyways due to laughter distracting me…

Anyways, on to the reviews!

 **Shadow Walker of Fire –** Unfortunately, that is just how Reach works. I like to imagine that Jorge only actually died after he ran out of ammo from fighting the covvies aboard their supercarrier in slipspace for so long. Waist-deep in shellcasings and covvie corpses, of course.

 **Osterreicher97 –** Thanks!

 **Raw666 –** 'Fun' fact, I actually forgot how well-executed the transport scene was during this level. Sure, not major-character-death levels of feels, but when _six hundred people_ die for basically no reason, its bound to get at least _some_ going.

 **Guest 001 –** Yeah… a three-month hiatus wasn't exactly _planned_ … it just happened… I'm getting better, though! This one was only _one_ month! Progress!

 **Guest 002 –** Because Ruby was slightly faster than canon Noble Six, and therefore, had more time to talk with Jorge. By the time Auntie Dot started yelling at them, his hands were already occupied with hugging the Rube.

And that's it for this chapter! Stay tuned for the next one: 'City in Cinders'. See ya guys then!


	6. City in Cinders

(A/N) Fun fact: this chapter was originally called 'City _of_ Cinders', but I couldn't stop thinking of a city whose only citizens were clones of Cinder Fall, so I changed the name.

On that note, hopefully this chapter won't be as much of a downer as the last one.

* * *

Chapter Six – City in Cinders

* * *

 **I resume the video as I'm riding in a Pelican; silently observing the nighttime city shooting by below me.**

 **Some skyscrapers were relatively unscathed, but most adorned scorch marks, holes, or even raging infernos that marred their otherwise pristine white exteriors.**

"Wait, its nighttime?" My partner asked, confused. "It was broad daylight at the starport."

I shrugged. "What can I say? New Alexandria's big." I answered. "That, and I couldn't take a direct route because, as Kat said, the covvies had this city locked down tight."

She raised an eyebrow. "When did she say that? We haven't heard from her since the launch facility."

I blinked. "Oh, right… I skipped that part…" I realized. "After I activated the missiles, Kat contacted me for a sitrep. I told her about Jorge, popped a smoke, and stood around for fifteen minutes while I waited for a Pelican to come pick me up."

"Uhh, you smoke?" My sister asked.

"What? No." I said. "What gave you that idea?"

"You just said that you, and I quote, 'popped a smoke'." Weiss said, her arms crossed.

"Ohh, that's a military term for 'marking your position with a smoke grenade'." I clarified.

"…Oh…" She said, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

 **I stood up as my craft neared its destination, passing through a plume of smoke along the way, and stowing a spare DMR on my back.**

 **The dropship didn't come to a full stop, but then again, it didn't need to, as I'd already stepped off without any issues.**

 **On the building I'd disembarked onto stood my commanding officer clad in his armor.**

 **He threw an arm around my shoulder as he neared. "Your report will have to wait, Ruby." He said. "The Covenant are jamming all comms to Command. Kat needs your help running a counter-op" He paused for a moment. "…Its good to have you back…" He said in an earnest tone.**

"Not to be rude," My partner started. "but haven't you two only known each other for less than a month?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but that's the thing about Spartans…" I started. "We're all brothers and sisters in the end…" I sighed. "…And we _both_ lost our big brother that day… He's just happy that he didn't lose his little sister, too."

"Spartans are that close?" My sister asked.

I nodded. "The second one of us sees another Spartan, we instantly know what the other went through to get to where they are today." I started. "All of us were either taken from our families or had our families taken _from_ us at a very young age. All of us were put through grueling physical training that's beyond even what the ODSTs went through. On top of _all_ that, _all of us_ had to be chemically modified at puberty with a very invasive, very painful, and very _deadly_ procedure." I said, only slightly stretching the truth with that last claim. "So yeah, we're _that_ close."

"I… I had no idea…" She said, somewhat downcast, as her eyes flickered from lilac to blue repeatedly.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." I said. "You didn't have any way of finding out." I said. "But let's get back on track."

She meekly nodded as I resumed the recording.

 **I gave him a sad Spartan Smile. "…Sorry I came alone…" I said in a low voice.**

 **He returned the gesture. "Make him proud." He said before turning away.**

" **Sir yes sir." I said before boarding a nearby Falcon.**

" **Put your wings back on, Lieutenant." Kat said over comms. "Covenant have deployed comm jammers throughout the city. We can't hear Holland, and he can't hear us. When I find those jammers, you hit them.** _ **Hard**_ **."**

" **Ay-firm, Tech Girl." I said, using my old nickname for her.**

"Uhh, didn't you just get done telling us how sad you guys were that you lost your brother?" My sister asked.

"Yeah, we certainly weren't the happiest campers at the time, but I was just trying to raise everyone's spirits for the time being, ya know?" I sighed. "Things weren't lookin' good, but we still had a job to do."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "One minute, you're practically tearing aliens limb from limb in rage, and the next, you're cheering everyone up with nickname throwbacks." She said. "Ruby Rose, I do not understand you…"

I shrugged. "From my point of view, it'd been hours since the evacuation."

"And it had been _days_ since Jorge's death." She retorted.

"What can I say? A little stress relief goes a long way."

"But-"

"Who said I was back to normal yet?" I interrupted. "Because I _certainly_ wasn't anywhere _near_ done grieving yet." I sighed. "I probably won't be for a long time, either…" I said under my breath.

She gave me a concerned look as her bow twitched, but I just waved her off and resumed the recording.

" **Got a bead on the first jammer?"**

 **A blazing building I was flying by suddenly collapsed, sinking beneath the thick smoke.**

"Gods…" Weiss said. "Just how _high_ are we?"

"Only about six-hundred meters." I said. "The smoke is just so thick that it seems much higher."

" **Stand by… Hmm, one of our Trooper squads went dark after the hospital got hit. Might be worth checking there."**

" **Copy, en route." I said before hitting the afterburners on my Falcon and speeding towards my destination. Moments later, I came to an outcropped garden; perfect landing zone.**

 **I orbited a few times, scanning for hostiles, before deciding that the LZ was clear enough and landed.**

 **I quickly, but quietly, slipped into the hospital itself, almost immediately coming face-to-face with a sleeping pack of Grunts, all having a purple shield surrounding them.**

Blake raised an eyebrow. "I remember them having that same glow aboard the corvette, but I just chalked it up to it being something on board the ship. Why do they have it here?" She asked.

"See that floating ball of tentacles over there?" I asked, gesturing to the screen. "That's an alien called an _Engineer_. They pulse energy outwards and give the covvies overshields."

She hummed in acknowledgement, the answer satisfying her curiosity.

 **I quickly dispatched the nearest Grunt with a wallop to the back of the head. It let out a whine as the life left its body, but its compatriots weren't disturbed.**

 **I methodically moved from Unggoy to Unggoy, repeating the same motion. Soon enough, they were all dead, and thus it was time to go loud.**

 **I brought up my DMR's sights on the Engineer and opened fire, killing it in only a few shots.**

 **The screeches of both Grunts and Jackals could be heard from the floors below me, prompting me to make my way to the stairwell. Just as I'd sighted another Grunt, the distinctive rapport of a Sniper Rifle bounced off the walls.**

" **Contacts!" I heard a female voice say over the radio. "Two at our ten!"**

"Umm, what?" Weiss let out, confused. "'Two at our ten'? What does that even mean?"

"It's a way to tell your squadmates where the enemy is relative to you and how many there are." I explained. "In this case, there are two enemies at their ten O'clock, which, if I were facing the screen, would be-" I pointed to a position slightly ahead of Blake. "- _that_ way." They looked like they still didn't get it, so I elaborated. "Okay, so think of which direction the formation is facing as the twelve O'clock. The screen, in this case. That would mean that Yang is on my three O'clock, Blake is on my nine O'clock, and Weiss is at my two O'clock."

"Okay, I think I get it." She said. "So, if I'm facing the screen, you would be at my… ten O'clock?"

I nodded. "Yep! You got it."

She gave a satisfied smile. "Alright, then let us continue."

" **I'll hold them off until you get to the other side!" She continued.**

" **Cover that doorway!" A male voice said. "Move, move, move!"**

 **I continued to descend, eliminating Grunt after Grunt who had conveniently made a conga line for me to headshot them one after the other.**

 **Just as my rifle clicked empty, I heard a Brute roar from the floor below before sending off a needle round in my general direction.**

 **I ducked behind cover for a mere moment as I slammed a new mag into my weapon before popping back up and unloading several rounds into the Ape.**

" **More Brutes!" The woman said. "Stay back, you stinking bastards!"**

 **Just as I was about to exit the stairwell, I spied the corpse of a Trooper, his assault rifle in one hand while a full magazine was in the other.**

 **I nodded to the man as I retrieved his weapon, seeing as I needed something with a bit more 'oomph' than my pistol.**

 **Holstering it on my back, I entered the next room and, almost immediately, came under fire by another pack of Brutes.**

 **I started unloading into the head of the lead Ape just as I saw the other two group up.**

"Word of advice." I started. "Don't group up when you're in a firefight."

"And why is that?" Blake asked in her usual, sarcastic, voice.

 **Barely sparing them a glance, I tossed a sticky their way and, just as their leader's body hit the floor, they were engulfed in blue plasma.**

" _That's_ why." I said.

Weiss hummed. "I think I remember Professor Port telling a story about how he used a similar tactic to eliminate a pack of Beowolves, though he used an explosive barrel instead of a grenade."

"Uhh, you can actually pay attention in his class?" My sister said, incredulously.

She rolled her eyes. "Someonehas to." I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, _two_ of us have to." I gave her a nod as I resumed the video.

 **I reloaded my DMR, my shields topping themselves off as I did so, while entering the new room in earnest. It looked to be a decorative skyway of some kind, though it'd seen some damage…**

… **as evidenced by the illumination coming off the flames just outside the glass roof.**

" **I said back off, you nasty son of a bitch!" The woman said as I continued my advance.**

 **I reached another trio of Brutes, two Majors and one Minor.**

 **By now, the Majors had turned to face me while the Minor dealt with a single Trooper. I knew she wouldn't last long, so I sprinted past my opposition, leaving a frag at their feet, and booked it for the Minor.**

 **Its back was turned and, just as I heard the explosive go off, I jammed my knife into its back and raked upwards, killing it.**

 **Looking back, I saw** _ **one**_ **of them scramble to its feet, its partner dead a few meters away. I took a few shots at its faceplate, knocking it free before the foe fell.**

 **I heard the Trooper sigh in relief. "Thanks for the assist, Spartan." She said before jerking her head sideways.** **"Jammer's over there."**

 **I nodded to her. "Just doin' my job." I said as I pressed the self-destruct button.**

 **Moments later, the jammer exploded in a ball of blue fire.**

" **Noble Two to Noble Six, do you read?"**

" **Five-by-five, Tech Girl." I said. "Sitrep?"**

" **Don't have the next jammer yet, sit ti- wait… INCOMING HOSTILES!"**

 **I whipped around and immediately saw the distinctive contrails of-**

Weiss blinked. "They have jetpacks, too?"

"Yeah," I said. "only Elites of the Ranger class, though."

" **We got jumpers!" I announced, taking a few potshots at the nearest one.**

 **It fell, both literally and figuratively, as the others descended upon us like vultures.**

 **Plasma washed over my position as most of them concentrated on me, causing my shield to flash a gold color. I dove behind a nearby Covenant barrier, returning fire and scoring another kill moments before a Ranger slammed down next to me, energy dagger drawn.**

"'Nother piece of advice," I started. "all Elites carry energy daggers. I dunno about aura, but they'll completely ignore shields. Same with an Energy Sword. Heh, wouldn't recommend gettin' hit with a Gravity Hammer either."

"So what you're saying is that entering melee with an Elite is a bad idea?" Blake asked.

I shook my head. "Actually, it's a passable one." I said. "The _last_ thing most of 'em expect is a 'puny Human' to _willingly_ enter melee with them. Plus, you guys's melee weapons are better than any UNSC equivalent we had."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What _did_ you have?"

"Knives are standard issue." I said, shrugging. "Some specialist units carry swords, but if the standard UNSC soldier is worried about melee, they'll likely only have a knife and a bayonet."

" _Bayonets?_ " She scoffed. "How does a space-faring civilization still use such _primitive_ technology?"

"Hey, not all of us have magically transforming weapons like _Blake_ here." I shot back, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Bayonets just _work_ if you're worried about melee… Well… they're better than a knife or a fist, at least."

"Uhh-" Yang started.

"Not you." I cut her off. "You've got bullshit soul magic and 12-gauge shotguns strapped to your wrists. I'd take that over a bayonet any day."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Don't be stupid, magic doesn't exist." She said, rolling her eyes. "And besides, youhave your aura unlocked."

"Eh, semantics." I waved her off. "Plus, if someone's never heard of aura or semblances in their life, they'd probably see it as magic."

She blinked. "Hmm, I suppose you're right." She conceded. "But who _wouldn't've_ heard of either of those things?"

"The UNSC." I deadpanned. "Plus Reach, Noble Team, hell, even _me_ by extension."

"But you've been using your semblance throughout this _entire_ video!"

"Just 'cuz I knew how to _use_ it doesn't mean I knew how it _works_ or even what it _was_." I said. "Up until I landed on Remnant, I genuinely thought I was magical."

"Well, that certainly explains your comments earlier about being a 'super powered super soldier'." She commented.

"Yeah, but we're getting off track." I said, resuming the video.

 **The overgrown lizard thrust its dagger forwards, aiming for my faceplate. I dodged with a roll to the side, dropping my DMR and quickly drawing my AR.**

 **I didn't even have time to properly grip it before I had to dodge a strike from a different Elite Ranger, though this one was just a punch.**

 **Plasma once again washed over my shields from a** _ **third**_ **enemy, causing them to break and alarm bells to start ringing inside my helmet.**

 **I ducked behind a nearby tree while returning fire, finally having gotten a grip on my weapon. Seeing its shields pop, I chucked a frag in its general direction and was rewarded, seconds later, with the satisfying sight of a contact disappearing from my motion tracker.**

 **Just as that happened, I'd already swapped out my now-empty magazine for a fresh one and dove from cover…**

… **just** _ **moments**_ **before a full-sized Energy Sword from one of the other two Rangers bisected the tree.**

 **More plasma washed over my position, popping my shields just as they were recharging. Thankfully, the Plasma Repeater that'd fired them seemed to have overheated just as that last round left its chamber, and I was free to deal with the enemy in front of me for a few seconds.**

 **I wouldn't need a moment more.**

 **Just as the sword-wielder lunged forward to run me through, I burst into rose petals, reforming just behind its tricep while it was still mid-lunge, and drove my combat knife into its side; raking it down the entire length of its form from armpit to knee.**

 **Needless to say, it died.**

 **Just as its body fell to the ground with a loud -THUNK-, the plasmafire resumed. I charged the enemy, its shields straining under the renewed barrage of my Assault Rifle.**

 **It, too, charged forward, both of its Energy Daggers activating as we entered melee range.**

 **It swung both at me in an upward fashion, trying to impale the underside of my helmet, but I dodged backwards just as the last round left my rifle's chamber, causing it to wildly miss.**

 **I quickly drew my knife and jammed it in the Elite's throat several times, causing it to fall to the floor, dead.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said that it would be a good idea to engage in melee with them." She said. "Yet, you struggled to defeat them using your recommended strategy even _with_ your augmentations."

"First off, there were _three_ of them. It should go without saying that engaging multiple opponents in melee is a bad idea regardless of who you're facing." I said. "Secondly, they barely _touched_ my aura. Remember that my shields aren't the only protection I have before I start actually taking hits. Thirdly, I was _extremely_ aggressive, I'd expect you guys to be more careful. The only reason why I pretty much charged everyone is because I knew I'd be able to tank a hit if I fucked up."

She hummed. "…Valid point…" She said. "Carry on."

 **I scooped up my DMR just in time to see the last Elite fall at the hands of the Trooper. I gave her an upwards nod. "You good, Soldier?"**

" **Yeah." She said. "Thanks for the assist, Spartan. You can head back to your bird."**

 **I nodded and proceeded back to the stairwell.**

 **The second I rounded the corner, a needle round pinged off my shields, causing me to reaction fire and headshot the offending Skirmisher. Its partner screeched, but ultimately met the same fate moments later.**

 **Suddenly, another Elite, an Ultra this time, seemingly came out of the walls and fired off a trio of concussion rounds at me.**

 **Still having my jetpack equipped from the evacuation, I flew upwards and started sending rounds at its shields. Less than a full magazine later, it lay dead along with its squadmates. I strode out onto the rooftop once more, another fresh mag in my rifle, and boarded my bird without incident.**

 **Not a minute after I'd boarded my Falcon, a distress signal came in. "This is Foxtrot Two-One on the DNBM Financial Tower! Is anyone out there?!"**

" **This is Noble Six, reading you loud and clear, Two-One." I quickly responded moments before Kat did, cutting her off.**

" **We got Hunters tearin' us a new one! Can you assist?"**

 **I nodded, momentarily forgetting that they couldn't see me. "Gimmie the coords and I'll give you a CAS run, over."**

"'Cass run'?" Blake asked.

"Stands for 'Close Air Support'." I said, earning a hum of acknowledgement.

" **I've got them here for you, Six." Kat said. "Assist them while I'm working on the next jammer."**

" **Roger, moving to assist."**

 **Suddenly, a loud, metallic screech permeated the air and in the distance-**

"What is _that_?" Weiss asked.

"A CCS-class Battlecruiser," I answered. "pretty much the covvie's mainline capital ship. It can glass, has plenty of troops onboard, and its _certainly_ no slouch in naval warfare."

"Well… what's it doing here?"

I sighed. "Glassing the city…"

Her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything more.

 **As we neared the target skyscraper, a massive red beam erupted from the belly of the Battlecruiser.**

"…That's what a glassing looks like, isn't it?" Blake asked.

I nodded solemnly before resuming the video.

 **I arrived and made short work of the otherwise fearsome beasts, earning a 'thank you' as the Troopers were airlifted away from the scene via Pelican.**

" **Four Charlie Two-Seven to command, request immediate assistance!"**

" **Go ahead, Two-Seven." Kat said.**

" **We found the jammer at Vyrant Telecom Tower, but we've got Hunters between us and it!"**

" **Copy, Two-Seven – help is on the way." She said. "Ruby, I'm sending you there. Get those men unstuck."**

" **You got it, Tech Girl."**

 **The ride there was mostly uneventful, but the second I arrived, I was assaulted by half-a-dozen Banshees, a pair of AA Shades, and one unruly Grunt with an overcharged Plasma Pistol.**

 **Thankfully, said Grunt was about as competent as you can expect from a Grunt, meaning that he completely missed my chopper and instead hit one of the Banshees, causing it to fly into its wingman and detonate.**

 **Thinking quickly, I ducked into the alcove that the building had; thankfully, it was more than high enough to accommodate my Falcon.**

 **My gunners each took out a turret while I concentrated on the orbiting Banshees.**

 **It was at this point that the Grunt decided to try again with its overcharged Plasma Pisol, this time scoring a hit. Fortunately for me, I was still inside the alcove, meaning I** _ **didn't**_ **plummet to my death.**

 **Upon landing, I felt an irregular bump. I remember writing it off as me landing on the stairs or something while my gunners kept shooting down Banshees.**

 **As I hopped out, I realized that I had** _ **not**_ **landed on stairs, but rather an Elite Ultra; likely that Grunt's CO.**

"Okay, umm… _what_?" Yang asked.

I just shrugged in response.

 **One DMR round and one frag later and the roof was cleared of hostiles.**

 **I entered the club, plasma scoring evident on its walls. "Fall back Four-Delta!" I heard over comms. "Fall back!"**

" **Defensive positions! Go! We'll cover you!"**

 **As I entered the main room, I saw a pair of Hunters harassing a squad of Troopers and jumped into the fray, my head on a swivel as I descended the single-story drop.**

 **I quickly emptied my last mag of Assault Rifle ammunition into the exposed, but still armored, back of the first Hunter, causing it to groan in pain.**

 **It spun around and started charging its plasma cannon, though I dodged with a jetpack-assisted leap. Lacking any explosives at the moment, I resorted to plucking at it with my DMR while running along walls; my descent kept slow by my jetpack.**

"Okay, I'm ninety percent sure that jetpack isn't designed to do that…" Weiss commented.

"Well, you're right." I admitted. "Buuuuut each thruster has a forty-five-degree gimbal on it, meaning that if I angle it _juuuust_ right, I can pull it off for a few seconds."

"Honestly, with what you've showed us so far, you could probably qualify as a fully-fledged Huntress already." She said, rolling her eyes. "Probably an Elite Huntress to boot."

I shrugged. "Eh, you're not wrong. But then what would happen to you guys?" I asked before quickly adding- "Not that I'm thinking of testing out, I'm just curious."

"Well, first of all, you wouldn't be our leader anymore." She said. "Then its somewhat uncertain. We could either become a Scratch Team, given that we would only have three members, or we could have that Lone Wolf join us."

"Sapphire Spruce, I think." Blake added.

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm still kinda new to the whole Remnan terminology thing, what's a Scratch Team? Also, I thought sixty-six people passed initiation, why do we have a Lone Wolf?"

"To answer your second question," Blake started. "her partner just disappeared at the end of the first week." She said. "I ran into him on his way to the airship docks after class, said he was just going into town for some things." She shrugged. "Apparently, I was the last one to see him. Ozpin asked if I knew anything."

"That's not ominous at all…" Weiss trailed off. "But to answer your other question, a Scratch Team is merely a Team that isn't at full strength. They may be split-up to reinforce other teams, reinforced themselves, or merely left alone." She shrugged. "It is entirely up to the acting Headmaster."

"Well, I _certainly_ won't be going anywhere." I said, a small but genuine smile on my face. "You guys're stuck with me for the next four years."

My partner rolled her eyes. "Oh, woe is me…" She said, causing all of us to give a short chuckle. "Anyways, let's continue."

 **My rounds continuously pinged off the Hunter, some striking home but most ricocheting harmlessly against its helmet.**

 **Knowing that I now had the beast's attention, I leaped over to the center of the room where a Trooper lay. I dove past him, letting my Assault Rifle fall, limply, to the floor as I scooped up the Rocket Launcher clutched in his hands.**

 **I whipped around and fired off both rounds into the enemy Hunter, completely vaporizing its torso.**

 **I heard the other growl at the loss of its bondmate and charge me. Unfortunately, the Trooper only had two rockets on him when he died, though the pair of adjacent dead Hunters was more than enough of an excuse to not criticize him.**

 **This, however, left me with a giant, shield-swinging problem approximately three feet from my face.**

 **I narrowly dodged the attempted bash with a roll and, during the time when I passed them by, picked up a single frag.**

 **I immediately primed the explosive and rolled it at my foe's feet, luckily knocking its backplate off.**

" **Now!" I shouted. "Hit it in the back, Troopers!"**

 **The moment my order left my mouth, a torrent of gunfire erupted from the upper floor, all impacting the Hunter's bare back. Needless to say, it fell over, dead, within a few moments.**

 **I breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to one of the Troopers, who was still frozen in shock. "Good job back there." I said. "Where's the jammer?"**

" **Uhh… umm… U- Upper floor…" He stammered out. I gave him a nod and proceeded up the stairs.**

" **Thanks for the assist." Another said over comms as I was just cresting the staircase. "It was starting to look a bit grim."**

I heard a slight snicker eek its way out of Yang's mouth. We all turned to her, causing the offender to turn beet red. "I… umm… thought it'd be uhh… funny if they were fighting Grimm…"

I sighed in exasperation as I resumed the video.

" **Can you take it from here?" I asked.**

" **Yeah." Was his response as I deactivated the jammer. "We're low on ammo, but our evac's only five mikes out."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "'Five Mikes'?"

"More military-speak." I said. "It can mean miles, minutes, or millimeters in the case of 'mike mike'."

" **Jammer offline." Kat commented over comms. "Head back to your Falcon, I don't quite have the last one's location yet, but I want you there as soon as I locate it."**

 **I replied with a curt- "Copy." -as I exited the club and boarded my craft.**

 **Moments after I'd left my alcove, another Battlecruiser flew in from orbit and drifted into position to glass another portion of the city; red plasma illuminating the night sky.**

Blake let out an involuntary shiver, though I seemed to be the only one to notice.

" **Command, this is Gunnery Sergeant Buck, Eleventh ODST, over."**

"More ODSTs?" Weiss asked. "I thought the order had been given to retreat."

"Yeah, technically, that was…. Well, a long time ago by then." I said. "But if you think your average Army Trooper isn't very likely to leave a civvie behind, you haven't seen the ODSTs." I paused. "They're all chosen from the best of the standard UNSC Armed Forces and get _months_ of additional training. All that time make 'em see themselves as Humanity's guardians somewhat." I said. "I haven't met an ODST that would willingly leave another person; civilian or military alike." A smile crossed my face. "Esprit De Corps, they call it. Means 'Spirit of the Corps', and they won't leave anyone behind no matter what."

Now that I'd lifted their spirits somewhat, I resumed the video.

" **Copy Gunnery Sergeant, go ahead." Kat said.**

" **My guys got caught in a firefight in the Nomolos Tower, roof collapsed. I gotta get over there."**

"He wants to willingly go to a firefight in a building with its roof collapsed _while_ the building itself is in the path of Covenant warships." Blake observed.

"Yeah, like I said, these guys won't leave _anyone_ behind, for _any_ reason."

"…Esprit De Corps…" She whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.

" **Solid copy. Noble Six will escort your Falcon to the tower." She said before sending the coords to my neural interface.**

 **The actual escort mission was fairly uneventful, if you discount the Banshees, that is. Though they weren't all too much trouble considering Buck's Falcon was equipped with grenade launcher turrets.**

 **Soon enough, we arrived at his destination.**

" **I owe ya one, Spartan." He said. "I'll see you in hell."**

Sensing their question, I preemptively answered. "It's just an ODST thing." I said. "He basically just said 'good job'."

" **Likewise, Gunny." I said as he exited his Falcon atop the landing pad of a burning building. He gave me a nod, one which I returned before flying off.**

" **Kat, got the coords for the jam-"**

" **Break Break Break!" Someone interrupted.**

"And that means…?" Blake asked.

"Its radio shorthand for an emergency situation." I said. "One 'break' is basically asking permission to join the conversation. Two is if you have info to give the others. Three, though, is only for emergencies."

" **Seven Delta-One-Niner to all UNSC forces! We've found the jammer but we're gettin' hit hard! Request immediate assistance! SinoViet Center is – Aaaggh!"**

…

" **Seven Delta-One-Niner, do you copy?" I asked.**

…

" **This is command, Seven Delta-One-Niner, are you still with us?" Kat asked, earning only silence. "Ruby, get over there and take out the jammer. Uploading coordinates for SinoViet Center now."**

" **Roger, en route."**

 **It seemed quiet as I set down on the landing pad, though that quickly changed as I entered a secluded plaza when I was assaulted by Fuel Rod Rounds fired from another unruly Grunt.**

 **I quickly dispatched it as well as the escorting Jackals before their commander, a Brute Minor, charged me. Knowing my DMR was less than ideal for the current range, I took out my empty Rocket Launcher and began using it as a beating stick on the offending Ape.**

 **I swung at its skull and made contact, producing a sickening -CRUNCH-. Unfortunately, Brutes are quite thick-skulled, and thus, my weapon was bent beyond use. I shrugged. "Not like I had any more rockets anyways…" I said before tossing it aside.**

 **As I rounded a corner, I saw a Fallen Soldier with a shotgun lazily siting half-way under his left leg, a bloody streak leading up the wall he was leaned against.**

I saw my sister flinch slightly at the sight, though she said nothing. Weiss looked away, mournfully.

 **I gave him a respectful nod before retrieving his weapon.**

 **I headed upwards, encountering a couple Brutes, though my new shotgun made short work of them.**

" **Downloading building Schematics…" Kat said. "Hmm, there should be an elevator on the north side."**

" **I see it." I said as I boarded.**

 **Literally moments later, I arrived. The first thing I saw upon exiting was another Fallen Soldier, this one mangled out on the floor.**

 **My rifle snapped upwards and scanned the area. Oddly enough, there weren't any traces of hostiles.**

 **I moved through the building, scanning every corner, but still finding nothing. As I got closer to the jammer, I started to hear a voice, though it's words were unintelligible.**

 **I swiftly, but still cautiously, moved towards the source. Eventually, I got close enough to make out his words. "…ighting** _ **aliens**_ **now?" The obviously male voice asked. "Innies were bad enough now we've got frickin'** _ **aliens**_ **?!"**

 **I rounded a corner, but still didn't find the Trooper. "Oh god… what if you turn into one if they bite you? Oh god, oh god, oh god no!" I finally found an alcove where he was hiding.**

 **Upon entering, I saw the Trooper, his rucksack off, with a Magnum pointed at his head. "Nononono! Not gonna happen to me!"**

"…What _happened_ to him?" My partner asked.

"Sometimes war is just too much." I said. "People just… _break_ sometimes."

 **At this point, he looked up and his eyes widened. "Oh god! They're commin' for me!" He said, backing up into a wall.**

 **I lowered my weapon. "Hey, hey… I'm a friendly." I said. "You're safe now." I turned off my intercom. "Kat, I found a Trooper having a mental breakdown, imma try to get him outta here."**

" **Copy, just be careful."**

" **Nonono! You're lying! S- Stay back!" He said, raising his pistol towards me.**

" **Just put the gun down." I said in a soft voice, holding out my weapon and my hands non-threateningly. "We can get you some help, just lemmie take you back to base."**

" **Nonono! You're gonna…. You're gonna strap me into one of those tanks and turn me into a gas sucker!"**

 **I blinked. "Yeah, its bad, Kat." I said over comms. "I'm gonna try for a nonlethal." I slowly took a step towards him. "What's your name?" I asked, trying to distract him.**

" **Stay back! I'm not af- afraid to use this!" He said, the pistol trembling in his hands.**

 **I took another step. "Got any family back home?"**

" **Y- you killed them all!" He shouted. "Just like you covvie bastards are gonna kill me! Well too bad! I beat you to the punch!" He said, quickly moving his pistol to his head and pulling the trigger before I could reach him.**

"GODS ABOVE!" Weiss shouted, mirroring everyone else's reaction by covering her mouth in shock.

They all sat silent in shock, and I let them be for a minute or so before resuming the video.

" **Ah, shit." I said. "Kat, Trooper is KIA, ate a gun."**

"… **Copy, Six. Proceed with the objective."**

 **Seeing no other way down, I jumped down the shaft that was behind the now-dead Trooper. Another of his comrades lay dead just inches from the jammer. As I pressed the self-destruct button, I heard a high-pitched squeal come from behind me.**

"W- What was that?" Blake asked, her bow twitching wildily.

"You'll see." I said.

" **Shit." I swore before turning and running. "Kat, Buggers in the building!"**

" **It was a trap!" She surmised just as one landed in front of me. I shot it in the face, causing it to explode. "Get the hell out of there!"**

"Uhh… what the _hell_ was that thing?" My sister asked.

"A Drone." I said. "They're hive-minded carnivorous insects that like to build hives under former Human cities. Also, they eat people fairly regularly."

I heard my partner gag. "Ugh, now _that_ was an image I could've gone without picturing…"

"Y- Yeah…" My sister said, a little green herself. "Let's… just get this over with…"

 **I ran through the corridors, headshotting the occasional Bugger before hopping into my Falcon and immediately taking off.**

" **Noble Two to Noble Leader. All jammers are down."**

" **Solid copy, Noble Two. New orders: all personnel are to be evacuated from ONI HQ, say confirm."**

" **Confirm, ONI Tower evacu-" A loud -BANG- was heard over comms. "-oh!"**

" **Noble Two! Sitrep!" Carter ordered.**

" **Covvies are hitting the Tower in force! Must've zeroed my signal!"**

" **Get that evac started!"**

" **Roger that. Noble Six, get over here and cover the evac Pelicans. I need you overhead** _ **now**_ **!"**

" **On the way." I said, hitting the afterburners. "Just hold on for a minute, Tech Girl."**

" **Command, this is Whiskey-Three-Five. I've got eyes on six long-range Shades in the vicinity of the ONI tower. Makin' life pretty hard on our evac birds."**

" **Copy, Whiskey-Three-Five. Ruby, take out those turrets."**

" **Roger, engaging." I said as I did so.**

 **Despite being in an aircraft, my strafing abilities proved their worth, and I was able to almost effortlessly eliminate the enemy Shades.**

" **Noble Six, you are one steely-eyed Spartan." She said.**

" **Heh, I think you mean** _ **Silver-**_ **Eyed Spartan, Tech Girl."**

Yang gave a slight chuckle.

" **Whatever, I'm extending the landing pad now. Time to come home, Lieutenant."**

 **I quickly set my bird down on the pad and entered the building alongside my two gunners. They went downstairs to join their evacuation crew while I went upstairs to reunite with my team.**

 **I popped my helmet off for the first time in a long while and entered a room that I heard Jun's voice coming from. "…to be the crown jewel. Hmph, not anymore…" He said, turning around. "Hey, you made it."**

 **Emile snorted. "It's a regular family reunion…"**

 **I couldn't see what I was doing from this angle, but I remember scratching the back of my head before pulling out Jorge's dogtags.**

" **Keep 'em." Emile said. "He gave 'em to you." He gestured to himself with his Kukri. "I'll honor him in my own way."**

 **Jun sighed. "Jorge always said he would never leave Reach…"**

 **Emile chuckled in response. "The big man** _ **was**_ **always sentimental."**

 **I stowed the dogtags back in my pouch. "Well, he** _ **did**_ **think that he was saving the planet." I pointed out.**

 **Carter sighed. "We should all be so lucky…"**

 **There was a pregnant pause before Jun spoke up. "Sir, that true about Gauntlet, Red, and Echo Teams assigned to civilian evac ops?"**

 **Carter blinked before turning to Kat. "Those are senior-level communiques…" He said.**

 **She shrugged. "I hear what I hear." She said. "Point is, why put Spartans on defensive deployments?"**

" **I need that link to SATCOM, Kat." He said, dodging the question.**

" **Chasing it, but there's more shrapnel than transistors in this thing." She looked at me. "Any chance you can pull a magic radio out of your ass?" She asked, jokingly.**

" **Heh, didn't you tell me to leave the tech stuff to you?"**

" **Worth a try." She said before turning back to the commander. "You still didn't answer my question."**

" **You wanna know if we're losing?"**

" **I** _ **know**_ **we're losing…" She trailed off. "I want to know if we've** _ **lost**_ **." Suddenly, the comms started beeping. "Colonel Holland?" She said, her voice expressing her confusion. "What's he doing on an open channel?"**

 **Carter shrugged. "Let's hear it."**

" **-near the southwest quadrant of the city, over. Sierra-Two-Five-Nine, if you are receiving, I am authorizing an override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."**

" **How long for a secure link?" He asked.**

 **She shrugged. "Can't guarantee secure anymore."**

" **Could the covvies trace it?"**

" _ **I**_ **could." I said, butting into their conversation. "And I'm not even a tech-specialist."**

" **Noble Leader," Holland said. "this is a Priority One hail. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."**

 **Kat handed him the earpiece. "Keep it brief."**

 **He nodded. "Carter here." He said. "Yes, sir."**

 **Jun spoke up, suddenly. "We've got movement. Multiple Covenant vehicles vacating the area… and they're in a hurry."**

 **I raised an eyebrow. "Retreat?" I suggested.**

" **Radiation flare! Big! Forty-million roentgens!" She said.**

 **My eyes widened and I thrust my helmet back onto my head. "Shit! They're gonna glass the area!"**

" **Just lost Holland. What's going on?"**

" **Atomic excitement scrambled the signal! Ninety million now!" Her eyes widened. "Into the elevators!" She shouted shortly before we were blown off our feet by a heatwave.**

 **We all ran into the elevators.**

I sighed, looking away from the screen. I knew what was about to happen and I couldn't watch it again. Thankfully, the others didn't notice.

" **First glassing?" Kat asked.**

" **Yeah." I said.**

" **Me too." She responded. "Let's see… ah, there's a fallout bunker on sublevel two; ninety-six meters northeast. We get orders from Holland, sir?"**

" **Yeah, we're getting redeployed to Sword Base."**

" **Sword?!" Jun shouted. "The Covenant own it now!"**

" **Which is why they want us for a torch and burn op. Keep Doctor Halsey's excavation data from falling into enemy hands."**

 **I heard the elevator open, even though I still wasn't looking at the screen. "If it hasn't already." She said.**

" **Maybe, but according to Holland, the covvies are still hunting for something."**

 **She groaned. "Honestly, where does he get off on calling a demolition op Priority O-" She was cut off as I heard the telltale sound of a needle round passing through armor.**

The other three gasped, but I still didn't look up.

 **Multiple gunshots sounded before they were joined by automatic weapons fire. Moments later, the sound of a massive door closing could be heard. I paused it there.**

I practically felt the rest of my team turn their attention towards me.

"Ruby?" My sister asked. "Are… Are you alright?"

Instead of responding verbally, I embraced her in a hug. Soon enough, the other two members of my team joined.

"…Its not fair…" I said after a few minutes. "Why were those fuckers even _there_? They were _glassing_ that place, not organizing a fucking picnic!" I yelled into her shoulder.

I felt her lightly stroke my hair as I gripped her. She let out a huff as the air left her lungs, thankfully, I realized what I was unconsciously doing and let up on the pressure.

I sniffed as I pulled back after several minutes. "I grew up with her, ya know…" I said. "Same company." I sighed. "We… weren't _really_ friends, but she was one of the few that didn't treat me like shit because of my eyes."

"You were bullied?" Yang asked, her face becoming worried.

"For the first few weeks, yeah." I said. "Then they just kinda ostracized me. Lisette, Kat, and a couple others were the only ones to even _talk_ to me." I walked over to my armor that was stood against the wall and retrieved something. "I never go anywhere without their 'tags." I said, holding the items up. "That and my mom's emblem." I sighed as I put them back. "Let's just get this over with, yeah? We're almost done."

They all nodded as I took my seat once more and started fast-forwarding to the next relevant part.

* * *

(A/N) Man, those word counts are really getting up there for FoR chapters. Remember when I thought I could squeeze _two_ levels into a 5k-word chapter? Yeah, That was pretty naive of me...

btw, thruster gimbal is a real thing, it's not just technobabble made up by Bungie to make a Pelican sound complicated. What it describes is how much a thruster can rotate relative to its starting point. The most noticeable usage of this is on the old Space Shuttles, as their main engines gimbaled up to provide thrust through the vehicle's Center of MassCoM. Since we see Thom-A293's Jetpack up close in the 'Remember Reach' trailer, we can see that the mechanisms should allow for at least some gimbal, though the amount that I've listed for the jetpack's capability is _far_ more than any real-life equivalent (to my knowledge). And yes, that scene was inspired by Titanfall.

Also, I mentioned Sapphire Spruce here for once. She was originally meant to be nothing more than a throwaway character to give the illusion of depth, but I have a plan (that I'm not 100% going to use, mind you) that involves her. So I figured I'd at least _mention_ her one more time. For those that have no idea who I'm talking about, she appeared as the person that won the match previous to Pyrrha vs Ruby in V1C11. I gave her no attention whatsoever aside from that _one_ mention besides this.

Anyways, that's all I have to say, so now onto the reviews!

 **TheFishKing –** Yeah, I'm planning on having that be asked a couple missions from now during 'Pillar of Autumn' (not the chapter name I'm going with)

 **BowmanW** – Thanks! And Yeah, I _also_ remember that one being a fun level that only touched on the genocide going on around Noble Team. To us, those 600 people that died when that transport went down were just fictional people, but to Team RWBY, they were _very_ real people being killed for _no_ real reason other than "They're Human, gotta kill 'em all". Quite a big difference between our work of fiction and their historical record.

 **Shadow Walker of Fire –** Interestingly enough, this level never really stuck out in my mind for some reason. Though replaying it after years of not touching the game has made me realize just how _good_ this level is. Yeah, Canon Yang would _definitely_ like that place… unfortunately, we're not dealing with Canon Yang, though this one still has an appreciation for puns… …even if she only chuckles instead of giving her usual, boisterous, laughter.

 **Guest 001 –** Nope, because I didn't feel like it added anything to the story. Same reason why I didn't include them getting picked up at the end here. Everyone already knows Kat's dead, its time to move on. Not that it's a bad scene, I just don't think it fits as well in this medium as it does in-game.

 **Redoctober700 –** Thanks! And yeah, that civvie was fun to think of. "Oh? The world's ending? Too bad, I need a coke sandwich." I really want to believe the story of the bear, though.

And that's it for this chapter! 'Yank Me' is next up.


	7. Yank Me

(A/N) Alright, this is the level that I remember almost nothing about going in. Let's see if it was actually worth remembering and my dumbass teenage self didn't care for whatever reason.

Also, HOLY SHIT! Reach and MCC are coming to _Steam!_ That's awesome! Naturally, being a PC player, I want to mod the shit out of it. I wonder if we'll end up going the Skyrim route and have Macho Man Randy replacers for Phantoms or something…

Anyways, that's enough of that, on with the chapter!

* * *

Chapter Seven – Yank Me

* * *

"Okay," I said as we were nearing the next spot. "this takes place about a week after New Alexandria."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I assume that's because of the amount of time it took to organize this raid?"

I nodded. "Yep." I sighed. "Let's get this over with."

 **I start the video just as I land from a small fall and walk past a few ODSTs.**

" **We've got a job to do." Carter said. "Six, are you in position?"**

" **Ay-firm, Commander." I answered.**

" **Good, execute."**

 **I nodded, forgetting I was on comms, before signaling my soldiers to follow me. "Copy, Commander." I said.**

" **Keep in mind, covvies own this sector now. They've got multiple AA batteries that need to die, but they'll be well-defended. Keep to the shadows and make as little noise as possible."**

 **I clicked my mic twice in affirmation before proceeding towards Ferrugut Station; dropping into the water below.**

"I don't remember there being water here last time." Blake commented.

"Glassing melted some of the ice here; raised the sea level."

Weiss blinked. "They can _do_ that?"

"Yeah, pretty common, actually." I said. "Especially for worlds with settlements in the glaciers, like Reach."

"Could that happen here?" Blake asked.

I shrugged. "If they decide to glass Atlas for some reason, maybe." I said. "But they'd have to get quite a bit of it to make a noticeable difference, seeing as the city is built on frozen _ground_ as opposed to an ice shelf like the area around Sword Base."

 **I peaked my head around the ruined building, spying a Shade turret. I looked behind me and, luckily, the ODST behind me had a DMR just like me. "I want you to take out the other Shade. I'll take the first shot." I said. "Lemmie know when you're in position."**

 **He gave a curt – "Yes sir." – before peaking around the other corner of the building. Moments later, I received two mic clicks.**

 **The moment I received confirmation, I let off a single shot, doming the unlucky Grunt that had been manning the turret. Less than a second later, the Grunt manning the other one dropped as well.**

" **Move, move, move!" I ordered as I stepped out of cover.**

 **Green plasma streaked towards me shortly before a DMR round took out the Fuel Rod Grunt shooting them. Unfortunately, my problems weren't over yet, as a Jackal with a Beam Rifle set its sights on me.**

 **In response, I ducked behind cover for a moment. Rather than wait for it to target my comrades, like a Ghost had been doing, I popped out again and targeted the sniper. Thankfully, it fell in only one shot.**

 **I looked over to the Ghost and was just about to deal with it when one of the ODSTs managed to headshot its pilot.**

 **I gave him an upwards nod. "Not bad." I said. "Let's keep moving."**

 **Emile hummed as we proceeded. "Kat was right. It** _ **does**_ **seem like overkill."**

" **Sending a Spartan Team for a demo op?" I said. "Yeah, there's somethin' goin' on here."**

" **ONI seems to think it's a good idea…" Jun interjected.**

" **Is that meant to dissuade me?" I rhetorically asked.**

" **Yeah, I think you're right, Six." Emile said. "Thing's ain't so simple anymore…"**

 **We rounded a corner and came face-to-face with- "Huh." I said, turning to the ODST following me. "That Scorpion look operational to you?"**

"Umm…" My sister started. "What is that?"

"It's an M808 Scorpion Main Battle Tank." I answered.

"…And a tank is…?" Weiss trailed off.

I blinked. "Do you _seriously_ not know what a tank is?" I asked.

"I only know it as a vessel that holds a fluid."

"Umm… okay…" I said, trying to think of a way to describe it. "Well, it's a vehicle that typically has a large caliber main cannon. Its armor makes it pretty much impervious to small-arms fire and its cannon makes it suited for frontal assaults."

Blake hummed. "Sounds similar to the intended purpose of the Atlesian Mech Program."

My partner raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know about that? Its top secret."

"Umm…" She trailed off, clearly not having a suitable answer for our teammate.

"Not important." I said. "Let's just get back to watching the video."

 **The ODST nodded. "Yes ma'am." He said with a laugh. "I'll let cha drive, Spartan."**

 **I remember grinning under my helmet as I climbed into the driver's seat and engaging single crew mode, allowing me to pilot it by myself.**

 **Pretty much as soon as the engine started, we came under fire from a nearby Covenant watchtower. Needless to say, I blew it out of the sky. Moments later, the ODSTs piled onto the vehicle and we sped off at the speed of a brisk jog.**

"Why is it so _slow_?" Weiss asked.

"They're supposed to be carted around by Pelicans, speed was never a consideration in the design."

"Just because they're fast in a strategic sense doesn't make it any less of a weakness in a _tactical_ sense."

I blinked. "Huh, never thought of it that way."

 **Even with the limited speed, we practically waltzed through the enemy defenses as if they weren't even there. Like I'd said earlier, their small arms fire did very little if** _ **anything**_ **to slow us.**

" **Carter, Ruby here." I said over comms. "AA guns in sight, moving to disable."**

" **Copy, Six. CAS is unavailable while those guns are up."**

 **The guns were fairly easy to destroy, seeing as they had a surprisingly light garrison.**

" **Triple-A neutralized, Commander."**

" **Copy, we're moving in now." He said as a duo of Falcons flew over our position.**

" **Yeah!" One of the ODSTs shouted. "Let's give 'em hell, Spartan!"**

 **Another one sighed. "They sure gave it to Reach…"**

 **I remember my eyes narrowing under my helmet. "Helljumper, what is your job?"**

" **To jump feet first into hell." He replied evenly as we advanced.**

" **Negative, its to make sure its crowded when you get there!" I yelled. "Are you gonna let these slimy** _ **aliens**_ **walk away from this?"**

" **No, ma'am."**

" **I didn't hear you, Marine!"**

" **NO MA'AM!" They all shouted in unison.**

" **That's more like it!" I shouted.**

" **Ruby, Carter. Be advised, we've sighted AT in the AO."**

"Another acronym, I presume?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, AT means 'Anti-Tank'."

" **Copy, we'll deal with it." I said as we crested a hill and saw the sky illuminated with green plasma.**

 **I immediately destroyed one of the fuel-rod Shades, attracting the attention of a Revenant in the process.**

 **It loosed a trio of red rounds at us, though I was able to dodge the high-arcing shots, returning fire in the process. The first round landed a few meters to its side, kicking up a plume of dirt and debris, though the second hit its mark. The enemy vehicle erupted into blue flames, destroyed, just as a line of fuel rod rounds descended onto my position.**

 **I turned my attention to the second AT Shade and eliminated the stationary target with ease.**

" **Got it!" Jun announced, suddenly. 'Gate's open, boss."**

" **Ruby, ETA? Covvies're all over the base."**

" **Gimmie half-a-mike!" I shouted as I crushed a Ghost beneath my treads, my main cannon destroying an AA Shade in the distance.**

 **Right on time, I arrived at the gate. "Everybody out! Into the base!" I ordered, the ODSTs complying moments later.**

" **Tangos!" Emile announced. "Commin' from the pad!"**

" **And from the garage!" Jun added.**

" **Double time it, Ruby!" He said just as I stuck my knife in an Elite Major.**

 **I redrew my Assault Rifle and opened fire on a pack of Grunts, decimating their numbers, as an Ultra came out of the woodwork behind me; its Concussion Rifle blazing.**

" **You got a shot on this asshole, Eagle Eye?" I said, still spraying down the escorting Grunts.**

I practically _heard_ Weiss's eyebrow twitch at the swear.

 **A single -Boom- resounded throughout the interior of the base; a thin line of smoke perforating the Elite's head. "Possibly." He said, smugly.**

 **I snatched up its weapon, exchanging it for my now-depleted AR, and unleashed hell upon a clustered group of Jackals. "Thanks a million!"**

 **Soon enough, the courtyard was clear and I swapped out my current weapon for my DMR. I poked my head into the garage, knowing there was a turret gunner in there, and quickly sniped the Grunt, doing the same to its partner on the other side.**

" **Courtyard and garage entrance are clear!" I announced.**

" **Copy, move up, Noble!"**

 **I advance, checking my corners and finding nothing, before giving the covvie turret a thoughtful look…**

… **and promptly tearing it from its mount.**

" **I've got point." I announced, my voice leaving no room for any arguments.**

"Isn't that thing heavy?" Blake asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah, but in the tight confines of a base, heavy ordinance like this pays off." I said. "Also, I… well…"

"You wanted to honor Jorge." Yang announced.

"Yeah." I said. "How'd you know?"

"I uhh… may have done something similar…" She said, looking away and rubbing her arm nervously. At our expectant stares, she elaborated. "For a while after you died… I just kinda… _gave up_ …" She sighed. "But then I remembered how much you wanted to be a Huntress, and I… uhh… I decided that I'd be one in your stead." She reached into the pocket of her sleeveless hoodie and produced a small switchblade knife, a rose emblem burned into its wooden handle. "Do you… uhh… remember this?" She asked, handing me the object.

I blinked, examining it. "Maybe…?" I hummed before running my fingers across the emblem. My eyes shot wide open. "Wait… This was _mom's_!"

A spark of hope flickered across my sister's features. "Yeah! What else?"

"She… she dropped it one day?" I half-questioned, earning a nod. "I _think_ I picked it up and ran off into the forest with it."

My sister shed a single, _happy,_ tear. "Yeah…" She sniffed. "Do you remember what happened when we found you?"

I gave her a blank look. "…Not really…" I admitted. "I _think_ I used it somehow, but the details are a bit fuzzy."

"Oh…" She said, slightly saddened. "Well, mom said she found you just as you stuck the knife into a baby Creep's leg." She chuckled. "Apparently, you uhh… you started jumping up and down shouting how you were a Huntress now."

"Your parents could _not_ have been happy about that." Blake observed.

She smiled. "Yeah, she was uhh… grounded for a month." She wiped her trail of happy tears. "I couldn't tell you how many times I've used that thing on Creeps."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem like a knife fighter to me."

"I'm uhh… kinda not, no." She admitted. "But _you_ don't seem like someone who hip-fires heavy machineguns."

"Huh, touché." I said. "Wait, mom was with me." I observed. "How'd you get her knife?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "I uhh… kinda went back for it after I got my aura unlocked. Turns out she left it behind in the old house. This has been my most treasured possession ever since I got it back."

"Oh…" Was all I really could say. "Well, why don't cha keep it?" I said, handing it back to her. "I've got my own knives, anyways."

She blinked. "But… this was also moms." She countered.

I walked over to my armor and retrieved my rose emblem. "Yeah, so was this." I said, showing it to them. "I dunno how it came with me to the UEG, but it did." She opened her mouth to protest further, but I silenced her with a wave. "She was your mom, too. I've got my memento, you've got yours." I gave her an encouraging smile, one which she returned, before resuming the recording.

" **Nege-" Carter started before rounding the corner and seeing what I'd done. "Give 'em hell, Ruby." He said.**

 **I nodded. "For Jorge." I said as I proceeded.**

" **We'll go through maintenance. I highly doubt the elevator works."**

 **Emile huffed. "The way this place's been done? I'm surprised** _ **anything**_ **works."**

 **We entered the maintenance walkways and found them teeming with shield-baring Jackals and their sniper cousins.**

"Another tip," I began. "Covvies tend to put Jackals in tight spaces, seeing as they can't be flanked."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Is there any easy way to deal with them?"

"Explosives, mostly…" I grinned. "…or a heavy machinegun."

 **We practically walked right through any and all enemy resistance, charred corpses of Jackals crunching under my boots as we relentlessly advanced. All good things must come to an end, however, and my turret ran out of ammo just as we reached the exit door.**

 **Before us stood the checkpoint from earlier in the Fall, now barely recognizable due to all the plasma scoring and cracked monitors. No Covenant were in sight, though.**

" **Where to now, boss?" Jun asked.**

" **Dot?"**

" **Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates." She responded.**

"That's not ominous at all…" Blake commented.

" **That's not ominous at all…" I commented.**

I burst out laughing, joined by my other two teammates as Blake's face turned beet red. After a few minutes, we managed to get ourselves back under control and I resumed the recording.

" **You can say that again, Six." Emile said.**

" **You two know as much as I do, Nobles Four and Six."**

 **We entered the atrium and were immediately beset by a pair of spec-ops Elites and a General.**

"Alright, now, I want you guys to tell me where the Elites are." I said. "Its good practice for if you're ever in a similar situation."

Blake hums. "I see one over there." She pointed to a shimmer in one of the corners.

I nodded. "Good." I said. "Anyone else know where the other one is?" My question drew three blank looks. "Here, I'll give you a hint." I said.

 **I reached out and grabbed an invisible Elite right in front of me and pinned it against the wall, shoving my DMR into its mouth and pulling the trigger.**

"To be fair," I started. "I _heard_ that one."

"I suppose our hearing would be just as important as our sight when fighting invisible enemies." Blake noted.

I gave her an approving nod. "Yeah, that's exactly right."

 **After a short firefight, the Elites lay dead and we were approaching the objective.**

" **This is it. In here." Carter announced.**

 **I opened the door and was immediately greeted by the sight of a Trooper squad laying dead inside the plasma-scored room. I scanned the area for a minute before lowering my weapon. "Clear, Commander." I announced.**

 **The rest of the team walked in, guns at a low ready, and looked around.**

" **Looks like they got themselves cornered." Jun surmised.**

" **Or they were committed to the position." Carter said.**

 **Emile continued down the corridor before turning around. "I'm goin' with cornered." He announced. "There's** _ **nothing**_ **here."**

" **No load-bearing columns either." Jun observed. "Sir, if we're supposed to blow this place, this ain't the spot to do it from."**

 **Carter sighed. "Dot, check your vector."**

" **Vector confirmed, Commander. We are precisely where ONI has directed-" She cut herself off. "Apologies. Coordinates revised. Please confirm."**

"That doesn't strike me as a usual occurrence." Weiss said.

"Normally, no." I said. "But this is an ONI facility, so sometimes shit happens." I said with a shrug.

" **Revised?"**

" **By an AI of unknown origin whose clearance is well above my own." She answered.**

" **Well," Jun interjected. "its pointing us a click and a half east and two thousand feet underground."**

" **Goddamn ONI…" I sighed under my breath.**

" **Sir," He continued, either ignoring or not hearing me. "I say we go AI free on this one."**

 **Just then, a loud rumble announced itself behind us. We all turned to face it, weapons raised, only to find a new, but empty, hallway.**

"Okay, this is getting spooky." Blake said.

"You don't know the half of it." I said.

 **Jun and I kept our weapons on a swivel as we treaded through the corridor, eventually coming to a tram. Seeing no alternative, we all stepped inside.**

" **Your new AI friend tell you anything else, Dot?" Carter asked as the door closed behind us.**

" **She's been expecting you."**

"Okay…" Blake said. "I am seriouslygetting bad horror movie vibes from this."

"ONI might as well be a horror movie in and of itself."

" **That's perfect…" Emile said, sarcastically, echoing our thoughts.**

 **The vehicle lurched forwards and, moments later, a viewscreen came online showing a familiar face. "Apologies for the unusual security measures, Commander," She said. "but the stakes demand it."**

" **Doctor Halsey." Carter said, surprised. "Casualty reports have you listed as-"**

" **Yes, well, as they say, reports of my death were greatly exaggerated."**

"Seems like a common occurrence, lately." Weiss said.

We all turned to her in almost shock. "Uhh… did you just…"

"What? Its not like I have to be strict _all_ the time."

"Couldda fooled me, Ice Queen." I commented, earning a 'Hmph' and a mock pout.

" **I only wish the same could be said of Noble Team…" She continued.**

" **We all do, ma'am…" Carter said, somberly.**

 **There was a pregnant pause before she continued. "It may please you to learn that the data module Noble Two procured from Visegrad Station contained precisely what my scientist promised. A latchkey discovery. It has unlocked, at last, the secrets of this excavation."**

"Uhh, Blake? You're making more and more sense here…" My sister said.

" **Not sure I understand." Carter said.**

" **Your orders were a pretext to bring you to me and have been overridden." She announced, gaining our attention. "You are here, Team Noble, to ensure the delivery of this vital data to a secure location."**

" **Doctor, our orders are to destroy all sensitive materials-"**

" **Others will handle the demolition." She interrupted.**

" **I'll need to confirm this new directive with command."**

" **Colonel Holland will be briefed." She said. "You belong to ONI now."**

"Is she trying to be any _less_ suspicious?" Weiss said, incredulously. "Because she is doing an astoundingly poor job at it."

I shrugged. "This is why we call 'em 'Spooks'." I said. "They pretty much always act like stereotypical black ops organizations."

 **Apparently, we'd started descending some time ago as an open cavern revealed itself, us descending down an elevator shaft.**

" **Before you is an alien artifact neither Human nor Covenant in origin." Halsey announced. "Advanced beyond our comprehension… until now."**

Weiss let out a- " _What_?" -echoing the thoughts of the rest of the team. "Did you ever find out what it had to do with anything?"

I shrugged. "She made an offhand comment about it being a 'Birthright from an ancient civilization' later, but otherwise, no."

"Drat." She said. 'That could've been _big_."

I raised an eyebrow. "The UNSC is _centuries_ ahead of Remnant tech, its already going to be big."

"I suppose so."

" **Thanks to Noble Two, the decrypting of its data is nearly complete." Halsey announced.**

 **Just then, a large chunk of the glacier above collapsed.**

" **Whatever we're doin' down here, we better do it quick." Emile announced.**

" **Seconded." I but in.**

" **Have your data ready, ma'am, we're coming to you."**

" **The decrypting process is still underway-"**

" **I don't think you understand, we're out of time." Carter said. "If it isn't portable when we reach you, its gonna get buried."**

" **Bury** _ **any**_ **of it and you bury Mankind's best chance of** _ **survival**_ **!" She shot back. "Commander, you've been wondering what your Spartans died for?" She started. "They died for** _ **this**_ **." She finished. "Please, buy me all the time you can."**

 **The elevator finally reached the bottom and we all filed out, weapons at the ready.**

" **Let's find Halsey's lab! Move!"**

" **Commander," Jun started. "I'm seeing turrets already in defensive positions."**

" **Yeah, almost like ONI was expecting company." I said.**

" **Well they sure as hell got it." Carter said. "Doctor, we've got hostiles inbound."**

" **You cannot allow the Covenant to break through the door to my lab."**

" **Understood." He said. "Let's give the Doctor the time she needs."**

 **Just then, another voice cut in on our comms. "Noble Team, there are four defense turrets to assist you in defending the lab. Get them online and quick."**

" **Copy, Ruby, you're the fastest, get on turret duty."**

" **Yes sir!" I said as I burst into rose petals, speeding towards each one and activating it in turn.**

 **Moments later, I was back at the entrance to the lab.**

 **The firefight that ensued started fairly small, groups of Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes blindly charging into our hail of gunfire and thus, dropping by the dozens. Eventually, they sent better units; Elites, mainly.**

 **There were several instances where Elite Rangers attempted to flank us, but my semblance always kept me one step ahead of them. Though they, on a few occasions, managed to drop my shields, I still prevailed.**

" **Well done, Spartans." Halsey said after the firefight. "I'm opening the laboratory door."**

 **I withdrew my knife from an energy sword-wielding Elite General. "'Bout damn time." I said.**

 **As I approached, the doors opened wide, revealing yet more corridors. We set off at a brisk jog through seemingly endless passages before finally arriving at Halsey's observation deck.**

 **Outside the window stood some kind of blue** _ **orb**_ **thing.**

"What…" Weiss let out. "What _is_ that?"

I shrugged. "No idea."

" **What is this stuff?" Emile asked.**

" **Knowledge." She answered. "A birthright from an ancient civilization."**

Weiss blinked, knowing that I was spot on with my description from earlier.

" **This AI is its custodian. And she has chosen you as its couriers."**

" **Uhh, what?" I let out. "Chosen by an AI?"**

" **By** _ **this**_ **AI, yes." She answered. "Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own; perhaps more." She moved about her lab as she continued to speak. "You are to take her to the UNSC shipbreaking yard in Asźod. There, you'll find a Halcyon-class cruiser waiting to get her off planet."**

" **I understand." Carter responds.**

" **Do you?" She asked before resuming her typing. "Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls, and it will fall, our annihilation is all but certain. Unless we can glean from this artifact, a defense against the Covenant." She said. "A game changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third."**

" **And what if we can't?" Carter asks.**

" **An apt question." She said. "If there were somewhere else to place our hope… there is not."**

 **She taps away at a few buttons and extracts a cylinder from her machines; one with a glowing AI chip in the center. She walks past Carter and hands it out to me. "Take it, Lieutenant." She orders. "She has made her choice."**

 **I hesitated for a moment before nodding and extending my arms to grasp the object. "Do you have it?" She asks.**

" **Yeah." I said.**

" **Say the words, please."**

" **I have it."**

 **She reluctantly let go of the cylinder and allowed me to take it. I gave it a quick once-over before stowing it on my back. Suddenly, another shake rattled the ground.**

" **Let's move, Noble!" Carter ordered.**

 **We jogged throughout the facility, eventually coming to an opened hangar with two waiting Pelicans.**

" **Doctor Halsey," Carter started. "Noble Three will escort you to Castle Base."**

" **I require no escort, Commander." She protested.**

 **Carter promptly ignored her. "Jun, make sure** _ **nothing**_ **falls into enemy hands."**

 **He nodded. "I'll do what's necessary, sir." He said. "Good luck."**

" **You too, rifleman." Carter said as they turned away.**

" **Jun." I said, gaining his attention. I snatched the dog tags from my neck and held them out for him. "Just in case." I said.**

 **He gave them a glance before repeating the action with his own. "Spartans never die, Ruby."**

 **I gave a dry laugh. "…We're just missing in action…" I said as we exchanged our tags and turned towards our respective Pelicans.**

 **By this time, Carter was already in the cockpit. "I need a heading, Dot."**

" **At three kilometers north, turn right, heading zero-five-zero."**

" **Which leads to…?"**

" **The shipbreaking yards in Asźod. The only off-planet extraction point left on this continent." She said. "Small-scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en-route. An armada of Covenant cruisers is hastening to the site as well. UNSC cruiser** _ **Pillar of Autumn**_ **is awaiting your arrival."**

" **Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy." Carter commented.**

 **After a few moments of silence, my radio crackled to life. "I'll keep your tags warm, Ruby."**

" **Heh, good." I said. "Its cold out today…"**

 **Suddenly, the ice shelf in the distance exploded with a barely audible boom.**

"What was that?" Weiss asked, concern in her voice, but not overflowing with it.

"That was a nuclear detonation." I said. "Don't worry, it was underground, so we're perfectly safe."

 **The water around the ice shelf flooded into the newly-formed crater as it disappeared behind the mountains.**

* * *

(A/N) Aaaand done! Sorry this one took so long, I've been kinda busy as well as just not wanting to work on this all too much. I have to say, though, this mission is a _lot_ shorter than I remember, given that most of it is cutscenes.

I'm sure some people aren't going to be happy that Jun and Ruby gave eachother their dogtags, but, to be honest, it kinda seems natural given that they're pretty much going on a suicide mission. If you look at things from their perspective, there is a _slim_ chance that Carter, Emile, and Ruby are going to live whereas there's virtually none for Jun… even though in canon it turned out the exact opposite way.

Anyways, that's really all I had to say, so onto the reviews! Though I'm doing something new now and repeating the actual review that was posted as to give everyone context.

 **Irdchief said "just sayin, spartan III chemical augmentations were 100% successful, no casualties"**

Well, shit, lol. I figured at least one person died in the Spartan-3 aug procedure. Though the deadly part was mainly referring to the S-2 equivalent, seeing as she was lumping both programs together.

 **Osterreicher97 said "Lol, City of Cinders..."**

Ikr?

 **Red october 700 said "You is welcome. I only included the bear story because I found it hilariously unrealistic but you know it could happen I gess. The whole spartan equivlant was just a thought exparment. If I can give one thing I disliked here, and I only bring it up because I personly think it would/ could be funny, the club Alixandrea easter egg. You know the one where you hit a button on top of the tower and the covvies change from genocidal alians to DJs and bar tenders. The only way I find it working is going into meme taritory. She walks in sees the easter egg with some marines or even other spartans sitting around dancing or drinking or somthing. She walks out and waits a second or two then comes back in for the real thing. That is just me though. I am a sucker for things like that I gess. Maybe a blooper? Well that is it for me Red signing out Peace"**

While that would've been funny, it just wouldn't fit… also, I may have completely forgotten that easter egg existed, thanks for reminding me of that little gem.

 **Shadow Walker Of Fire said "Great chapter. Halo Reach is one of the saddest stories I have ever come across(after Band of Brothers and NCIS). All the deaths of Noble were all so sudden that it felt like those events were stamped, no, branded into my memory so I can remember them forever."**

Thanks! And yeah, Noble's deaths were just about the only thing I remembered completely correctly about the game, otherwise its just bits and pieces until I _actually_ play it. When I started writing this, I didn't even remember that this game qualifies (quite easily, too) as a _tragedy_. I just remembered a fun game that 5/6 of the main characters die in.

 **Guest 001 said "What about the scene where Six is finally contacted by Kat, and reveals Jorge's fate!?"**

Yes, it is sad, but its kinda unnecessary for this imo. That's why I left it out.

 **Guest 002 said "Since when could Yang's eye color change to blue!?"**

Good question, and the answer is since V1E1 of Ruby B-312, and her eyes are blue until around the time Qrow shows up, seeing as he comments on how her eyes are back to normal. While it is _technically_ fanon, its based in canon, seeing as her eyes can turn into a very deep shade of blue-ish purple. Case and point, V5E6. Just after Yang punches the table, she goes into a rant and ends with her hoplessly asking "Why…?". Her eyes close pretty quickly, but for the few frames where they're visible, her Iris is a noticeably bluer shade than normal. I've just translated it to 'Blue eyes' because 'Purple eyes with a hint of blue' is too wordy.

 **Guest 003 said "Hopefully this chapter won't be much of a downer.**

 **Kat get sniped...*blank stare*"**

Yeah, could've worded that better… oh well. But, neglecting that fact, its still less of a downer than 'Long Night of Solace' and 'Exodus', so I count that as a win.

And that's all! Only one more full mission to go before Lone Wolf and the Epilogue! Next chapter is titled "Thermopylae in Asźod", stay tuned for it!


	8. Thermopylae in Asźod

(A/N) Man, it's the last full-length mission in the campaign. Feels long overdue, but at the same time, it's weird to finally be almost done with this fic.

Just as a forward, I always found it strange that Halsey gave Six that weird tube thing instead of an AI chip, and I actually was working off the assumption that there was an AI chip _inside_ of the tube when I came up with an idea I used early on in the chapter. So yeah, just go with it.

With that out of the way, let's begin the final true mission of Halo: Reach!

* * *

Chapter Eight – Thermopylae in Asźod

* * *

" **-wo five nine, you are alarming me." Dot said over comms as I approached the cockpit, bringing the blood-splattered windows into view.**

"He's wounded." Blake observed. "How did _that_ happen?"

"We were being pursued by Banshees for a while, a couple got some lucky shots into the cargo bay." I sighed.

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, that's a plasma bolt straight through the chest. Honestly, its amazing he can still fly this thing."

" **Not sure how long she's gonna stay together." Carter said, his voice raspy. "Skies are jammed up anyways, gotta get you off her, Lieutenant."**

 **I leaned into the cockpit. "Carter, you're-"**

" **Don't wanna hear it." He interrupted. "Get the package to the** _ **Autumn**_ **."**

 **I sighed. "Yes sir…"**

 **He nodded. "Emile, go with her. It's a ground game now."**

" **Its been an honor, sir." He said.**

" **Likewise. I'll do what I can to draw their fire." I turned away, walking towards the ba- "Ruby." Carter called. Turning back to him, I saw an outstretched arm holding his dog tags. "That AI chose you, she made the right choice."**

 **I nodded to him, taking his tags. "Give 'em hell, bossman." I said before taking the package off my back and clutching it to my chest, ready to jump.**

" **On my mark." He said, holding up three fingers.**

 **Two.**

 **One.**

" **Mark!" He shouted as he put his last finger down.**

I turned to my partner. "Might wanna look away for a bit." I advised.

She nodded in appreciation and did just that.

 **Emile and I jumped and skidded down a slope. About a second too late, I realized I was going to run into a fairly large boulder. I let out a loud 'Oomph' as I hit the offending rock, a loud -CRACK- accompanying my natural noise.**

 **I rolled to a stop a few moments later, groaning, I inspected the package for any damage…**

… **only to find the lower half completely missing…**

"That can't be good." Blake observed.

"Heh, had a mini heart attack there, yeah."

She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't that woman make a big deal about how this was basically Humanity's last hope of survival?"

"Yeah, she did." I said. "Buuuut Halsey likes redundancies, so _that_ was only an outer shell designed to protect the AI chip within." Blake let out a hum of acknowledgment as I turned to my partner. "You can look back at the screen now, by the way."

She nodded. "Thank you."

" **Shit." I said in a semi-defeated tone. At that moment, I realized the blue glow was no longer present inside the now-ruined package. Glancing towards the ground, I found an AI chip right beside me laying in the dirt.**

 **I gave it a visual inspection before brushing it off and gently inserting it into my helmet.**

" **Hmmm…" I heard a feminine voice 'say' inside my helmet.**

"I suppose that's the AI you mentioned?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, she'll introduce herself in a minute."

" **So** _ **you're**_ **the infamous Reaper of Draco." The voice said.**

 **I shrugged as I got up. "Pretty much, yeah." I said. "Sorry for the rough landing, didn't** _ **really**_ **have the luxury of picking a better spot." I said as I drew my assault rifle.**

" **Well, it doesn't matter** _ **that**_ **much. Halsey always** _ **did**_ **love her redundancies." She said offhandedly. "Anyways, I am CTN 0452-9. But you'll probably want to call me 'Cortana' instead."**

 **I nodded. "Spartan Ruby B-312, at your service." I said. "But anyways, there's a cruiser waiting for you, let's get moving."**

" **Agreed." She said. "The sooner we get off this rock, the better."**

"Uhh, do people really use the word 'rock' to describe planets?" My sister asked. "I uhh… thought that was only a sci-fi thing."

I shrugged. "Eh, not everyone does it. But a lotta people do."

" **You still with us, Commander?" Emile asked as we advanced through a narrow gorge.**

" **Stay low." He ordered. "Let me draw the heat, you deliver that package."**

" **Define 'low'." I cheekily asked.**

" **Eyes front, Ruby." Emile said as we rounded a corner. "Well, would you look at that…" He said. "The** _ **Pillar of Autumn**_ **."**

"Gods…" Weiss let out. "Its _massive_."

I shrugged. "Well, it's almost two-and-a-half times as long as anything Remnant has made." I said. "Given that it's about a couple dozen meters short of twelve-hundred."

"…Why am I so surprised?" She asked herself. "You said it yourself. The UNSC has-"

"Had." I corrected.

"- _Had_ hundreds of worlds, as opposed to our _one_."

"Yeah, pretty much." I said. "Though if Remnant were in UEG space, it'd be one of the bigger colonies considering most don't even have ten million people."

"Wait, then why even bother colonizing so many worlds?" Blake asked. "I mean, if it weren't for the Grimm, we would still have _plenty_ of room to expand with our current population."

I blinked. "Huh, didn't think of it that way…" I hummed. "Come to think of it, Reach didn't even have two hundred million people on it, and it was the second most important planet in Human space!"

The Faunus raised an eyebrow. "Most important next to…?"

"Earth." I said. "Homeworld of Humanity, population about ten billion." I smirked at their shocked expressions. "Yeah, _billion_. With a 'B'."

"Gods…" My partner let out. "I suppose it is to be expected that a large population base exists, considering that you've been fighting a galactic-scale war for almost thirty years… But how do you even _fit_ that many people on a single planet?"

I shrugged. "Earth is _well_ on its way to becoming an ecuminopolis, that's for sure." They blinked. "A planet-wide city." I clarified.

"… _How?!_ " She finally let out.

"When you've got resources coming in from just about every corner of Human Space, hundreds of years on your hands, and no Grimm to deal with, its not as big of an issue as you'd think." I said. "For example, the Greater Chicago Industrial Zone is a little shy of a hundred-n-sixty _thousand_ square miles."

"What do they make there? _Planets_?"

"Heh, nope." I said, popping the 'P'. "Just about everything else under the sun, though." I blinked. "Actually, they probably make reactors there, so mini-suns too!"

"…I'm not even going to ask. Let's just continue."

I shrugged and resumed the video.

 **We approached a bluff and, peaking over, saw a small contingent of Covenant forces.**

" **They seem distracted." Cortana observed.**

" **Heh, their loss." I said, backing up for a running start.**

 **Emile cocked his head. "Ruby, what are you doing?"**

 **I remember smirking under my helmet. "Cortana, theoretically, would a half-ton projectile falling approximately one cliff-height be enough to flatten an Elite?"**

"You cannot be serious…"

I gave my partner a smirk. "Why not? It is just _theoretical_ , after all…"

" **Depends on how high the cliff in que-" She cut herself off. "You're going to jump, aren't you?"**

 **I shrugged. "You read my file. You tell me." I said as I took off running.**

 **Just as I predicted, the unlucky Elite that ended up being my cushion did its best pancake impression startling its Grunt charges.**

My partner facepalmed. "One of these days, you're going to land on something as stubborn as you are."

"Hey, I fell from _orbit_ and I was fine." I shot back. "Just chill for a bit."

 **I immediately opened fire on the derpy aliens, not even taking a full magazine to drop the trio that were previously frozen in fear.**

 **A pair of Jackals shuffled towards me, though a grenade dispatched them just as easily as the Grunts.**

 **Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted several concussion rounds headed my way. I easily dodged them, causing the offending Elite Major to reveal itself.**

 **I unloaded an entire fresh magazine into its form, dropping its shields, before it ran behind a truck for cover.**

 **Suddenly, the front of the truck exploded as if hit with a concussion round, and a pained- "Blarg…" -escaped from behind the vehicle.**

 **Quirking an eyebrow behind my helmet, I peeked around the corner…**

… **and found a one-armed Elite, its exposed face charred by plasma, sprawled out behind the abandoned truck…**

"Did he just do what I think he did?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah." I giggled. "Covvies aren't known for their trigger discipline, guess that came back to bite this guy in the ass."

"Not that it would've lived either way." Blake observed, dryly.

"Heh, you're damn right it wouldn't've."

" **Well, that was a first…" I noted.**

 **Emile walked up next to me. "Huh." Was all he said.**

" **Are you two just gonna stand around looking at an Elite while the planet burns?" Cortana remarked, dryly.**

" **Oh, har de har…" I mocked. "But you have a point. Let's get goin', Knifey."**

"Is it compulsory to use nicknames for everyone where you're from?" My partner asked, incredulously.

"Eh, nah. I just think it lightens the mood a bit."

" **Well, would ya look at that…" I said after crossing the bridge that laid in front of us.**

" **Sure beets walkin', that's for sure."**

 **I eyed the vehicle before realizing that it laid next to a UNSC outpost. "Make sure she works, I'm gonna check for anything useful in here."**

 **I strode inside and found a weapons rack filled with DMR's and a- "Oh, fuck yeah…" I let out.**

"And now she has high explosives…" Blake sighed. "What could _possibly_ go wrong?"

"If by 'wrong', you mean 'right' and by 'what' you mean 'everything', then yes. Everything _can_ possibly go right."

Weiss's eye twitched.

" **I'm suddenly very worried for my own safety." Cortana stated.**

"Even the AI is worried…" Weiss said.

"Eh, she's just being dramatic." I waved off.

" **Heh, you're fine," I said, hefting my brand-spanking-new rocket launcher onto my shoulders. ", It's the** _ **covvies**_ **that should be worried."**

" **Banshees overhead!" I heard Emile shout over the radio.**

 **I remember smirking under my helmet. "Well, Emile, I just happened to find a solution to** _ **that**_ **problem…" I said, striding out of the base and immediately locking onto the nearest enemy craft.**

 **I loosed a rocket and, while it was still in flight, started locking onto the next one. Just as the first exploded, my second one shot off.**

" **Nice shooting." Cortana commented.**

" **Eh, it was only two Banshees, not** _ **too**_ **big of a deal…" I said, replenishing my ammo before boarding the Mongoose and driving off, Emile hanging off the back.**

 **We tore down the dirt roads going as fast as we could, the wind faintly registering on my helmet's mic as a dull roar.**

 **Eventually, we came to a large, open area.**

" **Ruby! Scarabs incoming!" Emile warned, shortly before a duo of the machines in question fell from the sky.**

"More of those things?!" Weiss practically shrieked. "How did you beat them?"

" **Thanks for the heads up! We don't have time to engage them, I'm gonna run right through!"**

"…Oh…" She let out. "Well that's… anticlimactic…"

"Is this usually how they deploy them?" Blake asked, bow twitching slightly in curiosity.

"Yeah." I said. "Just about the only things that _actually_ carry them are assault carriers, though supercarriers do, too. Neither have the _best_ maneuverability in atmo, so they just kinda drop 'em off."

"That's slightly disconcerting." She said. "But do you think they know about the package?"

"Oh, _definitely_." I said. "If they didn't, we'd probably be in the process of being glassed right about now."

Yang's face soured. "'Cuz _that's_ a good thought…"

 **We dodged and weaved through the enemy formation, charging directly under one of their bellies at one point. Thankfully, though, we were unharmed and proceeded onwards.**

 **After a minute or so, we reached a covvie blockade; the road ahead being sealed off by a barrier.**

 **Both Emile and I dismounted and scoped out the area.**

" **Wraith on the right." I announced.**

" **Infantry on the left." He said.**

" **Mind keeping 'em distracted for me?" I asked in a sweet tone.**

" **Heh, go get 'em." He said, taking off.**

 **I immediately started sneaking around the back, being careful to avoid the stray plasma mortar rounds it sent my way.**

 **Finally getting close enough, I let off a pair of rockets before ducking back behind a rock.**

 **After I'd reloaded and popped back out to re-engage the enemy, I found an odd sight before me.**

 **The wraith lay disabled, a large crater where its cockpit and gunner positions used to be.**

 **I whipped out my DMR – the one that I'd taken from the UNSC outpost – and ran up to the vehicle. Inside, I found the still-smoldering lower torso of the Brute that was driving the thing, but otherwise, the tank itself seemed fully-functional.**

 **I grinned. "Taking control!" I shouted over comms as I hopped in, the Brute's body being roughly shoved out and unceremoniously dumped onto the ground.**

"Of course you would do that…" Weiss sighed.

I shrugged. "Hey, why waste a perfectly good weapon when there's enemies around?"

" **Roger, Ruby. Marking targets!" He said as several red dots started clogging my HUD.**

 **I picked the largest concentration and opened fire, the plasma soaring over a rock and striking true.**

" **Targets down!" He said as I let off another round, this time towards a different group. "Good hits!" He said. "I can take it from here."**

 **I nodded absentmindedly. "Roger, scuttling."**

"Wait, what?" Blake let out. "I thought you just said that you shouldn't waste a perfectly good weapon."

"That applies when you can actually _use_ said weapon." I countered. "The covvies have the road blocked and the caves are too small for the Wraith. Since we don't want the covvies to use the thing _against_ us, the best option is to destroy it."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "By that logic, you should've destroyed the Scarabs back there."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, we _could've_ …" I started. "But it would take too long without the necessary equipment." I said. "Don't get me wrong, though. If we had MAC support, I'd've lazed those motherfuckers into next century."

"…Colorful choice of words aside, you've made your point. Let's continue." She said, causing me to nod.

 **I planted a grenade inside the Wraith's engine and ducked behind a rock. Moments later, it was consumed in a giant blue fireball.**

" **Wraith scuttled. How's the situation on your end?" I asked.**

" **Just finished up." He said, walking over to me while reloading his shotgun. "Thanks for the support, made it a hell of a lot easier."**

" **Heh, don't mention it. Let's get moving." I said.**

 **We came upon the entrance the cave, though it was guarded by a team of Grunts with Jackal support.**

 **Moments later, they all laid dead at our feet and we proceeded.**

" **Noble, you've got a…** _ **situation**_ **…" Carter suddenly said over comms.**

 **Just as we rounded a rocky corner, a Scarab – likely one of those we'd encountered earlier – made its presence known.**

" **Motherf-" Emile started. "We can get past it, sir."**

" **No, you can't." He said. "Not without help…"**

" **Sir, I have motherfucking** _ **superpowers**_ **if you remember!" I shouted.**

" **Negative, Ruby. It'll take too long." He responded.**

" **You don't have the firepower!" Emile objected as Carter flew over the mechanical monstrosity, chaingun blazing.**

"… **I've got the mass."**

" **Sir, I-"**

" **Solid copy." Emile interrupted.**

 **I sighed. "Hit 'em hard, bossman…"**

" **You're on your own, Noble…" He said, his blazing Pelican circling around for another pass. "Carter out." He said as his bird slammed into the Scarab.**

 **The beast let out a dying roar as the mangled Pelican exploded while embedded into its side, causing it to fall off the cliff moments later.**

I sighed. "Really wish there was a MAC around right about then…"

My proclamation was met with concerned eyes all throughout the basement. "Are you… uhh… okay, sis?"

I sighed again. "Y- Yeah…" I half-lied. "I'm starting to get used to seeing everyone dying again…"

My sister enveloped me in another hug, one which I returned immediately.

After a few minutes, we broke and resumed the video.

" **Crevice to the east," Emile said. "let's go."**

 **I nodded absentmindedly and followed him into another cave. The moment we entered, we were greeted with the bodies of three UNSC Troopers.**

 **Now on our guard, we continued further. "Buggers." I announced as an insectoid screech filled our ears.**

 **We advanced, eventually coming face-to-face with the new threat. Their flying abilities made them fairly hard to hit, though every once in a while, one exploded from a 7.62mm round entering it.**

 **Through a slow and methodical advance, we'd eventually wiped out all the Drones impeding our path, including a second group further up backed up by Skirmishers.**

" **Spartans!" We heard over comms as we exited the cave into a shipbreaking yard, a Paris-class frigate sat embedded in the ground half-deconstructed.**

"I almost forgot that was a frigate…" Blake commented.

"Yeah, they're quite a bit bigger up close."

" **Over here!" The female voice said. Peaking over the cliff, a massive firefight became apparent between some scattered UNSC Army Troopers and a much more numerous force of Covenant infantry.**

" **Emile, get down there! I'll provide support!" I said, braining a couple Jackals while I spoke.**

" **Got it!" He said, pumping his shotgun before leaping down onto an unfortunate Elite Minor.**

" **You seem to be somewhat of a bad influence." Cortana said.**

" **Heh, not** _ **my**_ **fault its an efficient way of dealing with covvies." I said as three Grunts fell.**

" **This is Captain Keyes of the** _ **Pillar of Autumn**_ **." A male voice said over comms. "We're tracking you, Noble, and have begun our launch sequence. Proceed to drydock, platform D. I'll be on it myself to receive the package."**

" **Copy that, Captain." Cortana answered for me, seeing as I was currently in the middle of making sure a Trooper didn't die to the Elite Ultra he'd thought it would be a good idea to engage in** _ **melee**_ **.**

"Is that man suicidal?" Blake asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nah," I said. ", he's just got biggest balls in the UNSC Army."

 **I continued to pluck away at the Ultra's shields, annoying and distracting it, while Keyes continued. "Good, because my countdown has no abort."**

 **Soon, my distraction paid off, and the Trooper managed to get his knife into the Elite's throat, killing it.**

 **My attention shifted to other targets as the alien dropped and, for a minute, I felt like the White Death of ancient Earth. Enemies dropped left and right, some stood out in the open, their heads swiveling from side-to-side in an effort to locate their assailant in time to save themselves.**

 **That never happened, as the last enemy, an Elite Minor, was felled by Emile's shotgun before it could spot me.**

 **I quickly skidded down the cliff, joining my fellow soldiers, before Emile and I continued into the main section of the frigate.**

 **On the other side, a trio of Shades awaited us, their plasma cannons roaring.**

 **I fired off my last few rockets, hitting the Shades but missing the Ghost that just appeared.**

 **Fortunately for me, a Spartan Laser was sitting, abandoned, beside the wall.**

 **I grabbed it and started hunting for that Ghost…**

… **only to find that the driver had been killed by the explosion…**

"If you guys didn't figure it out already, know that knocking out a vehicle can be as simple as killing the driver." I said.

"Noted." Weiss said.

 **We then fought our way through the tight corridors of the facility, eventually coming across another pair of dead Troopers.**

Weiss sighed. "I think I'm becoming desensitized to their deaths…" She said. "I'm… not quite sure how I feel about that…"

I gave the Heiress a pat on her back. "If it makes you feel better, they didn't die for nothing." I offered with a small smile.

"…Not really," She said. "but at least you're _trying_ …"

 **I fought through even more Covenant infantry, eventually leading outside to a pair of Hunters. Thankfully, though, I had my Spartan Laser.**

 **One minute and two charred Hunter corpses later, we were advancing once more. We then fought through** _ **another**_ **building, a foundry this time, Keyes contacting us part-way through.**

" **Keyes to Noble Team," He started. "we're running out of time here, Spartans." He warned.**

" **We'll be there." I reassured before turning to Emile. "Final push, eh, Knifey?"**

 **He gave me a blank stare. "Where do you get these nickname ideas?"**

"See! Even _he_ agrees!" Weiss shouted.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her comment.

 **We headed through another door and encountered some men fighting off a small contingent of Covenant. I quickly dispatched them.**

"Is it just me, or do they look different than the other Troopers?" Blake asked.

"Oh, that's because they're Marines, not Army Troopers." I clarified.

"And the difference is…?"

I blinked before coming to a realization. "Oh, right. Remnant doesn't _have_ Marines…" I paused. "They're a different branch of the military specializing in boarding and defending naval vessels. As a whole, they receive more training than Army Troopers and are often used as a rapid-reaction force. In fact, the ODSTs you saw earlier are a special forces branch of the Marines. Also, every one of them is trained in hard vacuum operations."

"Hmm, interesting…" She said before signaling me to continue with the video.

 **We strode out of the structure and, for the first time, were able to see the** _ **Autumn**_ **up close.**

"Woah…" My sister let out.

"You can say that again." Blake echoed.

"And you said this was only a _light cruiser_ …" Weiss finished.

"Look at it from my perspective." I said, deciding I'd had enough of the 'OMg uR sHipS r BiG' thing. "Remnan ships are just… fucking _tiny_."

Weiss's head immediately snapped to me. "You take that back." She half-ordered.

I smirked. "Nah."

She took a breath. "Let's just continue." She said through clenched teeth.

" **Sitrep, Marines." I ordered.**

" **Rigged a mass driver up top." One of the Marines said. "We lose that, the** _ **Autumn**_ **'ll have no covering fire, she'll never make orbit."**

" **Noble to Keyes," Cortana said. "we've arrived at the landing pad."**

" **Copy, Noble. My Pelican's ready. Clear an LZ and I'll meet you there."**

" **Will do, sir." Emile said. "I'll grab the big gun, Ruby, you just get yo ass on that pad."**

" **Sounds like a plan, Knifey." I said, charging out of the room and into a hail of plasmafire. My shields took several hits during my charge, but it was worth it, as all the peons accompanying my target, an Elite Ultra, lay dead at our feet; their skulls adorning one more hole than necessary.**

 **My adversary roared a challenge, but it was cut short by a knife in its throat, delivered courtesy of my semblance. "I'm not in the mood for your shit." I growled out as I slammed a new mag into my DMR.**

"Aaaand brutal Ruby is back…" Blake deadpanned.

I sighed. "Oh, no." I said. "This is just annoyed Ruby. Brutal Ruby will show up in about… eh… two or three hours."

She raised an eyebrow but chose not to say anything.

Weiss, however, filled the silence. "I'm sure how I feel about that." She tisked. "Scared. I'm going to go with scared."

I sighed before resuming the video.

 **I moved through the battlefield like my namesake; knives and bullets became my new scythe, and the Covenant, my wheat to reap.**

 **All around me, Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, even** _ **Elites**_ **lay in various states of** _ **disassembly**_ **when the Brute Chieftains finally made their entrance.**

 **There were three in all; a fuel rod gun, a grenade launcher, and, of course the hammer wielder.**

 **The Grenade Launcher and Hammer Wielder ran after a group of Marines that had been holding out in the central structure, but the Fuel Rod Gun turned its sights completely on me.**

 **It fired off several rounds, each being dodged as I charged, a Spiker in one hand and my knife in the other.**

 **I magdumped onto the Brute as I neared, its shields flickering, but holding.**

 **It tried to take a swipe at me with its meaty fist, but it only contacted the metal bulkhead behind me. It was then when its eyes widened in pain.**

 **Chieftain armor may be the single most extensive set of armor in use by the Jiralhanae, but it has a** _ **very**_ **obvious weakness when you get to close range.**

 **The insides of its arms are** _ **completely**_ **exposed.**

 **That reason alone was why my foe currently had a multi-foot-long gash running down the** _ **entire**_ **length of its arm.**

 **It roared in agony, enough of a distraction for me to slice open its neck and leave it for dead.**

"Shouldn't you finish it off?" Blake asked.

"Do you know how much blood that thing is gonna lose? It was probably dead by the time I reached the Marines."

"If you say so…" She said.

 **I ran for the Marines' position, gunfire and Human screaming echoing in my ears.**

 **The moment I arrived, I saw an opportunity and stuck my knife in the spine of the Hammer Wielder. It dropped to the floor, no longer in control of its own legs.**

 **Though it was down, it was** _ **certainly**_ **not out, as evidenced by its frantic swinging of its hammer.**

 **As a reward for its persistence in living, I stuck two Plasma Grenades to its face. Moments later, the paralyzed Chieftain was replaced with a headless one.**

 **I quickly grabbed the Brute's Gravity Hammer and ran towards the last Chieftain, who was currently chasing the last Marine around the central structure.**

 **I leapt over the scared Marine and swung my hammer down onto its face, killing it.**

 **I sighed in relief. "Keyes, Six here. Pad is clear." I announced.**

" **Copy, Noble. On my way." He said.**

" **Ruby…" Emile said. "Its time for you to leave. Get to the pad and catch that boat."**

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Blake asked.

I sighed. "Yeah…"

" **Emile, you know what that means." I said, sternly.**

" **One of us has to stay behind to cover the** _ **Autumn**_ **." He stated. "And you're the one with super powers. You should live."**

 **My weapon fell from a low-ready to completely at my side. "That's what Jorge said, you know…" I said.**

" **Heh, guess I'm just as sentimental as he was…" He remarked as the Pelican approached. "Guess you're gonna be one tag short of a full set there, Ruby."**

" **This is Keyes on hot approach to platform Delta." He said as his craft spun around, dropping its bay door.**

" **Give 'em hell, Knifey." I said, giving him a nod before turning towards the Pelican. "Ready, Cortana?"**

" **Yep, yank me." She said as the Captain disembarked.**

" **Good to see you, Spartan." He said as I handed him the AI chip. He gave it a curious glance before shrugging. "Halsey said I could count on you."**

 **I gave a head nod to Emile behind me. "Not just me, sir…" I said, darkly.**

 **He gave a grim nod. "They'll be remembered." He turns back to the Pelican, but in the process spots something in the clouds. "Cruiser, adjusting heading for the** _ **Autumn**_ **!" He shouts into comms.**

"Why can't anything ever go according to plan?" Weiss asks.

"Ask the fucking aliens that, Weiss." I sighed. "Let's just get this over with…" I muttered.

" **Noble Four, I need fire on that ship or we're not getting outta here!"**

" **You'll have your window, sir." Came his reply.**

 **The Captain and his Marines boarded their Pelican, but I heard a Phantom on approach and drew my DMR, keeping it at a low ready.**

 **Moments later, the engines of the escorting Pelican exploded as plasma impacted them. The craft went belly-up and careened into the landing pad, with me narrowly dodging it.**

 **I flipped over onto my back and took aim at the offending Phantom, squeezing off a few rounds before I had to take cover from its turret.**

 **I heard a shotgun blast come from the MAC. Looking to see its cause, I saw Emile standing over the corpse of an Elite Zealot.**

" **Who's next?!" He shouted…**

… **before being impaled from behind with an energy sword.**

"Gods above!" Weiss shouted.

Yang and Blake merely looked on in abject horror, unable to form words.

I breathed a deep sigh, running my hair through my fingers, before my head settled in my palms. I sat there for… honestly, I don't know how long. Could've been seconds, or maybe minutes.

Eventually, I let out an- "I'm tired…" I said. "I'm just… _tired_ of losing everyone…"

I didn't feel anything for a long time, but eventually, someone started to rub circles on my back. I sighed, liking the comforting sensation but still not looking up.

Evidently, my sigh triggered someone to hug me.

Then another someone.

Followed by the last member of our team.

I don't know who started it, but I was very glad that I had such supportive teammates.

We stayed like that for another unknown amount of time, but we eventually broke and resumed the feed.

" **Emile!" I yelled.**

 **Still impaled, he drew his knife and turned around. "I'm ready!" He announced. "How 'bout you?!" He messily shoved his kukri into the Elite's throat before ripping it out. "Ahh…! ahhh…" He trailed off, the life leaving his body with his last breath.**

 **Behind me, Keyes's Pelican reappeared.**

" **Lieutenant!" One of the Marines shouted, beckoning me forward. "Get aboard! We've gotta get the hell outta here!"**

" **Negative." I growled out. "Some** _ **asshole**_ **just killed my** _ **friend**_ **." I sighed as chambered a new round in my DMR. "I've got the gun, Captain. Good luck."**

 **The Marines, who looked like they'd just shit themselves at my anger, stood silently. Keyes, however, merely nodded. "Good luck, Spartan." He said before flying off.**

 **I started towards the gun platform, a few Grunts dying along the way. Soon enough, I was confronted by a sizable force of Elites; three Zealots and a Field Marshal.**

 **Unfortunately for them, I still had the Brute's Gravity Hammer. They didn't even last a minute.**

" **Cruiser's too far away for the Mass Driver to crack the shields." Keyes announced as I climbed into the MAC's cockpit.**

 **Several Phantoms and Banshees, however, were** _ **very much**_ **in range, and I took the liberty of thinning out their numbers.**

 **As the enemy aircraft started to thin out, the underside of the cruiser began glowing blood red, signifying that it was readying its glassing beam.**

" **Fire** _ **now**_ **, Lieutenant! Hit her in the gut!"**

 **With a smirk, I did so, causing the entire belly of the ship to erupt in blue flames. Its lights flickered for a minute while the cruiser sailed over our heads, finally giving out a few miles downrange and crashing into a nearby mountain.**

" **Good guns, Spartan." Keyes said over comms. "All hands: Brace for cast-off."**

 **The massive UNSC cruiser shuddered as it rose from its cradle, its ascent boosted by several engines haphazardly strapped to its underside.**

 **The ship swung to the left as I climbed down from my perch on the MAC emplacement, all engines firing as it slowly started accelerating towards space.**

 **Suddenly, it lurched forward, gaining speed at an almost unbelievable rate for its size, its booster engines falling away as it sped off into the distance.**

" **This is the** _ **Pillar of Autumn**_ **, we're away…" Keyes said. "…and the package is with us."**

 **I sighed, thinking that my last chance to leave this hellhole alive had just left without me.**

" **Sierra B-312?" I heard a familiar feminine voice ask over comms.**

" **Cortana?" I let out. "I thought Keyes said you were away."**

" **We are, due in no small part to you and your team's efforts." She said. "I just wanted to thank you before we left, is all."**

" **Heh, well… anyone else make it?" I asked. "Spartans, I mean."**

" **Two, though one is clinically dead." She said. "That one is Linda-058, the other's an old friend of yours…" She said. "John-117."**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, John-117." I said, earning a raised eyebrow from my partner. I turned to Blake. "You remember how I said I was one of _two_ Hyper Lethal Spartans?" I asked, receiving a nod. "Well, he's the other one."

"Woah, he's as good as you?" Yang asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, he's _much_ better." I said, causing them to gape in astonishment. "He's much better because _I_ achieved the same rating as _him_ , but I had to use aura to do it."

"Implying he doesn't have it." Weiss concluded.

"Got it in one." I said. "In a fight, I'd probably win, but that's _only_ because of my aura. Even _with_ that, it'd be a _very_ hard fight."

"If he doesn't have aura, what makes him so good?" Blake asked.

"Well, for one, he's a Spartan-II."

"Meaning...?"

"They got harsher training," I held up a finger. "better augments," Another finger went up. "are more experienced," Yet another. "And, lastly, they were chosen from the best of the best, genetically speaking." I put my fingers down. "I mean, sure, what I went through during training was _easily_ several times more difficult than even ODST school, but the two's? Nah, that's just a tuesday for 'em."

"The way you sound, you're making them out to be the saviors of Humanity." Blake commented.

I shrugged. "Well, if anyone could do it, its John."

 **I blinked before a smile crawled its way onto my face. "Chief, eh? Guess his luck is still holding out." I said. "Tell him we're even after Skopje."**

"What happened there?" Weiss asked.

"He kinda pulled my ass outta the fire there." I said.

"Uhh, how?" My sister asked.

"It was just after I'd unlocked my aura and gotten my set of MJOLNIR MkIV. I was feeling just a bit overconfident. Basically, I thought it'd be a good idea to take on a few hundred covvies at once." I sighed. "Naturally, I was on my last legs when he arrived with a Pelican. I passed out in the troop bay and woke up on a hospital ship with a few new scars than I'd been used to at the time."

"That seems reckless, even for you." Weiss said.

I shrugged. "You're not wrong..."

" **Can do, Ruby." She said. "Cortana out."**

 **I let out a sigh before looking to Emile's body, still clutching the kukri that killed his assailant. I knelt down to him. "Guess I'll get the full set after all, Emile." I said, grimly, as I removed his dog tags. "I'll take as many down with me as I can, Knifey." I promised before walking away from the battlegrounds.**

"So… that's it?" My sister asked. "Uhh… how'd you get to Remnant?"

I sighed. "Remember how I said that 'Brutal Ruby' comes out for a bit?" I asked, receiving a nod. "Yeah, its not pretty…" I announced as I began fast-forwarding to the last part of my time on Reach.

* * *

(A/N) Concerning the warning about 'Brutal Ruby' showing up… yeah… let's just say that Ruby won't be a happy camper next chapter, and her level of violence will very much reflect that fact. I mean, in V1C1 of Ruby B-312, its stated that she literally starts out in a _field_ of Covenant corpses. She killed so many of them that they _**literally gave up sending men out to kill her**_ **.** So even though I haven't written the actual battle yet, it's pretty safe to say that it'll be the most violent one in the story.

I just wanna say that the Chicago Industrial Zone is actually canon in Halo, covering the (implied) entirety of the modern-day US States of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, the total area of which is, as Ruby said, just under 160k sqmi (~414k sqkm). For reference, that's still about 10k sqkm larger than modern-day Poland, the Czech Republic, and Russian East Prussia combined.

Yes, the incident with the Elite killing itself with a Concussion Rifle _actually_ happened. Laughed pretty hard at that.

Another thing that happened was the Trooper engaging the Elite Ultra in sorta-melee. I say 'sorta' because in actuality, it was a Trooper with an MA37 standing approximately two feet from said Elite and unloading into it while it was punching the two-inch-wide fence that separated them, saving the Trooper. Idk if he survived the rest of the battle, because after I'd saved his ass I moved onto other targets, but I like to think he did.

Anyways, that's all I had for this one, so review time!

 **TheFishKing said – "Cortana needs to speak to Ruby. Also you now how you can see 117 in a pod in the boarding of the Pillar of Autumn cutscene you should include that instead of having Cortana telling Ruby who she was being delivered to"**

Cool idea. Come to think of it, that would've been pretty cool to just have Jen Taylor say a few lines at the end of Reach. Could've even been the Legendary Ending.

 **Shadow Walker of Fire said – "Great chapter. When WBY see the Scarabs, their jaws are going to drop. I recently replayed Halo Reach but on my Xbox One and I got the achievements for completing the missions, did you think about using the achievement names as chapter names?"**

In my initial response, I agreed about the Scarabs, buuuut then I realized that they'd already seen one in the opening of 'Long Night of Solace'. Also, I didn't think of using the achievement names for the chapter names, no.

 **Dovah117 said – "now its time to see the final deaths of noble team, the sacrifice of commander carter and the badass death of emile, he knew that he was going to die and he welcomed killing his killer, for me Reach is one of the best Halo, they manage to transfer the feelings of noble team, when kat died in the game, i didnt expected, it was so sudden, but the dead that really make cry a man was Jorge dead, he sacrified beliving that he saved Reach, and after that they show you that his death had no meaning, more covenant appeared, and all hope was lost... at least in the end we give humanity the final key to finish this war, but sacrifing ourselves for that, waiting for the end of hiatus of the main story, i want to see what will be the consecuences of the pressence of the unsc/covenant and the destruction of atlas"**

Fun fact, Reach was the first game that I played where the entire main cast died :D. You can imagine how hard that hit… shit, how old was I? 14… goddamn, I was _not_ ready for that back then. Anyways, yeah, Reach does it _really_ well, considering the only other game I'd played at that point with even _one_ main character death was Guild Wars: Prophecies, but Rurik getting crushed under an avalanche and dying in a cut-to-black-screen juuust doesn't have the same effect as Emile getting run through with an energy sword and _hearing him_ _ **die**_ **.**

 **Guest 001 said – "Whatever happened to Jun in canon anyways!?"**

In canon, he made it to Castle Base with Halsey and got rescued by Chief and his merry band before heading back to Earth. Idk where he spent the rest of the war, but afterwards he became a recruiter for the Spartan-IV program. The only member of Noble Team to canonically survive Reach. Buuut Ruby doesn't know that.

 **Felrik said – "My feeling when UNSC Army troopers, or UNSC Airmen, are called 'marines', especially when considering they would have fought on just about every world (but we don't see it because the Chief is typically with Naval Vessels and expeditionary forces). Although you started calling them troopers eventually. Interestingly, Noble Team was apart of SPECWARCOM, the special forces of the UNSC Army. Also, if I recall correctly, Ruby wouldn't have worn SPI armour as she was pulled out of the rest of Beta Company, being equipped with better equipment due to being deemed too valuable to lose in a suicide mission.**

 **In anycase, lore stuff aside, I'll be looking forward to the next chapter, and I'll look into your other fanfic as well, it sounds interesting."**

Yeah, I genuinely thought they were Marines until I started going off the transcripts in… I think the level 'Exodus'? Yeah, that sounds about right. Needless to say, I feel stupid, considering its stated _multiple times_ in-game that they're _Troopers_. Not Marines.

Canon Noble Six was pulled out of Beta Company before Torpedo, not Ruby though. At first, I pretty much wanted to copy Six's backstory _exactly_ and just superimpose Ruby's identity onto him, but then I realized that Six was a very unique kind of Spartan, and that wouldn't fly. I'll actually address Torpedo in V2C1 of the main series, though.

* * *

Anyways, that's all for now, guys. Originally, I'd planned on there being the 'Lone Wolf' chapter and _then_ an epilogue, but I've since decided to roll them into one chapter. Thus, 'Burned and Turned to Glass' is next up. It'll either release with V2C1 and 'Paradise Lost' of ASH, or those two will wait another week, it just depends on how far I get.


	9. Burned and Turned to Glass

(A/N) …Wow… the last chapter of this fic. Sorry to say, though, that V2C1 isn't _quite_ ready yet, but should be next week. Also, I went back and added a few paragraphs to the ending of last chapter. You guys might want to go read those quick.

With that out of the way, let's round off this fic!

* * *

Chapter Nine – Burned and Turned to Glass

* * *

 **A duo of Banshees circled overhead as plasma storms erupted in the distance, the product of heavy bombardment by Covenant ships.**

 **I stood upon a raised platform, Phantoms disgorging their troops into the ruined village before me.**

 **I sighed. "Once more into the breach…" Just as the last word left my mouth, the first green bolts of plasma sailed over my head.**

 **Barely sparing the offending Grunts a glance, I whipped out my pistol and put a round into each of their skulls.**

 **In front of me, an Elite Minor approaches, weapon blazing. I sidestep every bolt it throws at me, still walking forward, as it sprints in my direction.**

 **Just as it gets within knife-fight range, it rears up for a kick. I easily dodge just by turning to the side before bringing forth one of the most powerful punches I've ever thrown right into its unprotected throat.**

 **I say 'into', because my fist passes right through the throat and breaks its spine. My foe was dead before it hit the ground.**

"Gods…" Weiss let out.

"You weren't kidding when you said Brutal Ruby was coming out to play." Blake commented.

I sighed. "Oh, this is just the start…"

 **I swiped a pair of plasma grenades from its corpse before priming them both and immediately launching them behind me, where another pair of Elite Minors appeared.**

 **They both exploded, their Grunts dying shortly after with a magnum-sized hole in their heads.**

 **More Elites made their presence known as I worked my way across the battlefield, picking up a discarded MA37 off the corpse of a Trooper.**

 **I sprayed into the nearest Elite, popping its shields, before using it as a meatshield against a torrent of incoming plasma.**

 **Suddenly, they all had the idea of throwing their grenades at me. Fortunately, none stuck. Unfortunately, several** _ **did**_ **stick my meatshield. So, naturally, I sent it sailing right back at them, killing a number of Elites in a single shove.**

 **I slammed a new mag into my AR before pulling out my pistol to use in my right hand. The rifle would drain their shields and then the pistol would finish them off with a neat headshot.**

 **Several ended this way, but the horde had shifted from sending Minors to sending Ultras, suddenly, causing my shields to break.**

 **I grit my teeth as the sting of plasma impacted my aura shortly before ducking to avoid the strike of an energy dagger. I threw myself backwards, knocking my would-be assailant off balance, before bashing it's face so hard, my rifle broke.**

 **Not missing a beat, I scooped up its Plasma Rifle and made a fighting retreat towards the platform; now identified as a radio tower.**

 **Wherever I ducked into, be it a building, behind a crumbling wall, or even an inflamed semi, trails of dead Covenant followed.**

 **Eventually, my pistol clicked, signifying its lack of ammo, and I discarded it. Around the same time, the plasma rifle started misfiring due to lack of energy.**

 **About that time, I turned around and booked it to the comms relay.**

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why did you go back there?" She asked.

I smirked. "You didn't see it, but there's two mounted turrets up there."

 **I bolted onto the structure, shields humming as they recharged, and immediately ripped one of the turrets off its mountings.**

 **Just as I was about to face the enemies again, I paused, glancing back at the second turret, before experimentally hoisting my current weapon with one arm. I let out a satisfied hum as, though it was heavy, I could one-hand a turret.**

Weiss facepalmed. "Don't tell me you're going to dual wield turrets…"

"Okay, I won't _tell_ you that I'm gonna dual wield turrets." I replied, cheekily.

 **I dropped my currently-held weapon and ripped off the other turret, picking both up by their carrying handles, and charged back towards the enemy horde.**

 **Apparently growing tired of only sending Elites to do their job, the offending aliens were now rejoined by Grunts in addition to the odd Brute in the mix.**

 **The moment I came into visual range of the horde, I threw up the turrets and grabbed them by their triggers. The guns immediately announced their presence with a loud roar, their recoil helping me to support their weight.**

"Why am I surprised?" Weiss let out.

I shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." I said. "I don't recommend doing that, though. Those things were heavy."

She just gave me a deadpan look before I resumed the video.

 **The heavy rounds tore through the horde like a hot knife through butter. Some were killed so quickly that their falling bodies served as temporary cover for their comrades behind them.**

 **By the time my guns fell silent, dozens of Covenant lay sprawled out in various states of disassembly before me, the entire hillside painted purple.**

"Gods, its like a horror film…" Blake let out.

"Wouldn't disagree with ya there…" I said.

 **Knowing my ammunition to be quite low, I scooped up a pair of plasma rifles from the corpse field before moving on.**

"What were you even _doing_ there, anyways?"

"I was trying to use the comms tower to signal any nearby UNSC ship for pickup." I shrugged. "Turns out, covvies shot it a few times and fried all the electronics inside."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What was your backup plan?"

"Didn't have one." I answered. "Just fight 'til I die, I guess."

"That's a bit… _defeatist_ …"

"Maybe, but it was the only option I had left. That or just lay down and die."

"But you obviously made it here." Weiss commented. "So there was, apparently, an option 'C'."

"Heh, yeah, I guess." I said. "Kinda interested to see what option 'C' was, though. 'Cause from my point of view, it was pretty much a Deus Ex Machina."

She blinked. "…A what?"

I paused. "Oh, right. Well, it means that god comes down and fixes everything." I shrugged. "I think the literal translation is 'God from the Machine'."

She hummed. "Well, let's get moving, then." She said.

 **A few seconds later, once the survivors had realized that I'd stopped firing, several aliens poked their heads, and guns, out of cover.**

 **Plasma washed over my position, though I returned fire in equal amounts. Grunts dropped, plasma burned, and shields popped as the mass of Covenant infantry clambered over themselves to reach my position.**

 **Though suffering heavy losses, some finally reached me. Namely, a pair of Elite Majors and a Brute Minor.**

 **I dodged a few spikes from the Brute's weapon before loosing a few bolts at the hairy creature. Unluckily for** _ **it**_ **, the heat from the otherwise-non-lethal wounds caused its fur to ignite.**

 **My foe tried to put itself out, but a swift kick to the crotch incapacitated it enough to where it forgot about the growing inferno momentarily.**

Weiss looked at me, slightly horrified. "I honestly feel sorry for that thing…"

I shrugged. "I don't." Her expression grew even _more_ horrified. "Weiss, I've seen them literally rip civilians limb from limb in front of their children… and then do the same thing _to_ said children." I stated. "I will _never_ feel sorry for a Brute, nor should _anyone_." I paused. "I mean, do you feel sympathy for the _Grimm_? Because covvies are _our_ version of them."

She blinked. "Actually… that seems a fairly apt descriptor…" She muttered.

"Except the Covenant has space ships that can burn entire planets from orbit." Blake observed, her face betraying the shock at her own revelation.

I nodded. "Yeah…" I trailed off. "Let's just finish this thing."

 **Soon enough, the Brute no longer focused on me, allowing me to deal with the** _ **other**_ **two problems currently launching plasma at me.**

 **The first approached quickly just as its plasma rifle overheated, drawing an energy dagger in the process. I dodged, leaping behind it, and grabbed right under its chestplate before suplexing it into a concrete wall behind us, making a sickening -CRUNCH- from the Elite's neck and burying it under several large chunks.**

 **I quickly rolled to the side, avoiding a strike from the other Major, while using my rolling momentum to slam into its legs, knocking it to the ground with me.**

 **In its moment of stunned stillness, I leaped atop it and buried my knife in its throat, killing it.**

 **I wasn't spared a moment of respite, however, as I, again, had to roll to dodge a strike; this time from an energy sword-wielding Elite General.**

I turned to my partner. "Some more rolling incoming."

She nodded and looked away.

 **I only had one place to go, and that was down the hillside. My roll ended with me kicking off the dirt and crushing a Jackal under the heel of my boot.**

"Alright, you're good." I said.

"Thank you."

 **Its friends turned to me in shock as I grabbed its plasma pistol and unloaded into them, my shields recharging as the last one fell.**

 **The General who'd chased me off my perch slid down the hillside, mock surfing with its sword held out to the side for balance.**

 **I grabbed another plasma pistol and started blazing away at it. Just as it reached the bottom, a badly-aimed plasma mortar came crashing down atop it, vaporizing the Elite and sending its weapon flying.**

 **The deactivated hilt skidded to a stop beside me and I scooped it up, clicking it into place on one of my thighs, before turning to face the Wraith that'd almost hit me.**

 **Sure, there was only one** _ **Wraith**_ **, but it was also escorted by a pair of** _ **massive**_ **Hunters along with several Grunts.**

"Those Hunters seem… _bigger_ than the other ones we've seen." Blake commented.

I nodded. "Yeah, they're easily the biggest one's I've ever encountered."

"They have to be _twice_ the size of regular Hunters!" Weiss exclaimed. "I mean, as if they _normally_ weren't large enough!"

"No kidding." I said. "Hopefully these end up being the biggest ones I ever see."

" **So** _ **that's**_ **how its gonna be…" I muttered under my breath.**

 **I quickly started picking off the Grunts – albeit slowly, considering I only had a plasma pistol – while dodging the fuel rod guns from the Hunters as well as the plasma mortars from the Wraith.**

 **Several close calls later, the escorts were dead, and I overcharged one of my weapons before firing it at the tank. As it fell to the ground, I quickly sprinted up to it with my semblance and planted a grenade in its exhaust.**

 **By the time it exploded, I'd already whipped out my energy sword and charged one of the Hunters.**

 **I ducked below a swing, missing by mere inches, before vaulting atop its leg and severing its arm. It recoiled in pain, but before it could recover, I'd already made quite the slash into its stomach.**

 **Singed worms poked out of the armor, writhing in pain as the Hunter struggled to retreat.**

"Ugh, that… that is just… _disgusting_ …" Weiss got out.

"Agreed." Blake said.

Meanwhile, my sister just looked at the screen, a tinge of green on her cheeks.

 **I swung around my foe, outflanking its attempt at a one-handed shove, and buried my blade deep in its neck.**

 **It let out a pained roar, but as it was in the process of slumping to the ground, I leaped off the beast and onto its bond brother.**

 **It tried to shake me off, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Just as I was about to end it the same way as the other one, however, my blade was stopped by another energy sword.**

 **Looking up, I saw an Elite Zealot standing over me, a snarl on its split-jawed face. Barely hesitating a moment, it activated an energy dagger and swung down at me, aiming for my torso.**

 **It would end up embedding itself into the Hunter's shoulder after passing through a cloud of rose petals.**

 **We stood opposite the Hunter's head, each on a shoulder, as our new battleground finally settled down for a moment.**

 **It had an energy sword plus its dagger. I drew one of my knives to match it.**

"Are you about to have a duel on top of a Hunter?" Weiss asked, incredulously. "Because that's what it looks like."

I nodded. "Yep. That's _exactly_ what's going to happen."

 **It lunged forwards, blade bound for my torso while the dagger took up a more defensive position closer to its chest.**

 **Trying to end this quickly, I deflected with my sword and aimed to plunge my dagger into its exposed elbow. Unfortunately, its half-commitment to the strike paid off, as I had to back off due to a swipe from the dagger.**

 **Still at close range, I lashed out with a kick to the knee, hitting and stumbling it slightly. Before I could capitalize on its vulnerability, it plunged its sword into where my chest** _ **would've**_ **been had I not burst into rose petals and appeared behind it.**

 **Still in shock, it only barely dodged my knife strike, still getting nicked on its neck.**

 **Purple blood started to pour from its wound, though its resolve never wavered as it lunged forward again, this time both blades poised to strike.**

 **I jumped over its attacks with my augmented strength, raking my sword down the middle of its skull in the process.**

 **As the Zealot fell, so would I…**

… **had I not grabbed one of the Hunter's back spikes and catapulted myself back into position, plunging my sword into the nape of its neck in the process.**

 **I kicked off the falling corpse of my enemy, launching myself away from the impact zone. Still airborne, yet more plasma tried to intercept me.**

"Do they ever _stop_?" Blake asked.

I shook my head. "Not quite, no."

 **Looking at my HUD, I realized that my energy sword only had one charge left, so I threw it into the crowd and was rewarded with the pained yelp of a Grunt.**

 **The moment I landed, I stuck my knife into the nearest enemy, also a Grunt, and took its weapon, a plasma pistol.**

 **I groaned at my luck, still unloading into the enemies, but also retreating as my shields drained; popping just as I rounded a corner.**

 **Instead of more Covenant, I was greeted by two fallen Troopers, one armed with a shotgun and the other, a sniper. I gave them a nod of appreciation as I took their weapons. Ironically enough, the shotgun-wielder had an entire ammo can of shells sitting right next to him.**

 **I quickly magnetized that to my back, below the sniper, and pirouetted backwards, striking an Elite Minor in the jaw with the shotgun and knocking it to the ground.**

 **It looked up at me, hatred in its eyes, as I curbstomped it.**

My sister gave me a worried glance out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

 **Not wasting a moment, I re-rounded the corner, a Brute materializing in front of me. Before it could even react, I sent an 8-gauge shell into its head, killing it.**

 **Behind it was an Elite Ultra. It received the same treatment, though its shields didn't break and instead, tried to plunge an energy dagger into my chest.**

"Is that their go-to reaction for entering melee?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised.

I shrugged. "Pretty much." I said. "Lower ranks tend not to think of it in time, but Ultras on up are almost guaranteed to pull a dagger on ya if you get into melee with 'em."

She hummed. "Good to know."

 **I sidestepped the strike, bodychecking the enemy while I pumped my shotgun, before putting a round through its now-unshielded skull.**

 **A group of Grunts and Jackals rained fire down on me from a few dozen meters away. Unfortunately for them, I had grenades.**

 **The slaughter continued for thirty minutes straight. Each wave of enemies fell to my fury, whether it be by shogun blast, grenade, knife, or even** _ **fist**_ **, the ruined town I was in just got covered in more bullet casings and covvie blood.**

 **The last enemy, however, was unique.**

 **It was an Elite Minor who saw the writing on the wall and decided to hide.**

 **Unfortunately for** _ **it**_ **, I saw it duck behind a few breakable crates. Whipping out my sniper, I put a round through where I thought its head would be.**

 **Through my scope, I saw a purple blood-splatter cover the walls behind it, confirming my kill. Sighing, I began walking away from the now-cleared battlefield.**

" **DEMON!" An Elite's voice roared.**

"They can speak Valerian?!" Weiss practically shouted, echoing the thoughts of my teammates.

"Yeah, but they don't do it often." I said. "Also, anyone in UEG space would call this language 'English'."

"Why speak now?" Blake asked. "Surely it could've gotten the jump on you if it'd just stayed quiet."

I shrugged. 'I dunno. But I'm glad it did."

 **My leisurely walking pace halted instantly, and I turned around. "Hmm, a Field Marshal… Maybe you'll** _ **actually**_ **put up a fight, unlike your brethren…" I said, gesturing to the field of Covenant corpses we were standing in.**

 **He growled and activated his dual energy knives. "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"**

" **Eh, care to put your money where your mouth is?" I taunted, sheathing my sniper rifle, seeing as I wouldn't be needing it here.**

 **"GRAAAA!" The Elite roared, finally losing its temper, as it charged me. I dodged at the last second in a flurry of rose petals, letting its momentum carry it just past me. I quickly climbed up onto its back and buried my combat knife into its skull, killing it.**

 **"Disappointing…" I huffed as I wiped my blade clean before re-sheathing it. I glanced back at the body-stricken battlefield behind me for a moment before turning forwards once more, spying an abandoned house in the distance. Shrugging, I moved towards it.**

"So… uhh… You said that you didn't have any plans beyond living…" My sister commented. "What now?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I was just wandering. I didn't really have a set destination in mind."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "And you did with the relay?"

"Yeah." I said. "It was the only nearby one I knew of outside of the shipbreaking yards."

 **Rather than knocking, I drew my shotgun from my back and kicked down the door, sweeping the area to make sure that no covvies were present. I methodically searched every room, but thankfully found no hostiles.**

 **I came across a partially shattered mirror in what remained of the dining room, and only now did I notice how stained my armor was. My color scheme, a unique combination of a red front and a black back, was replaced almost entirely with blue alien blood, only a few, tiny, spots showed their intended color.**

"…You look terrifying…" Blake commented.

I shrugged. "Wasn't what I _did_ a bit terrifying?"

She winced. "Point."

 **I sighed before popping off my helmet and reaching into one of the many pockets on my recon chestplate, pulling out a silver rose emblem. "…Hey mom…" I started, rubbing the memento with my thumb.**

"You talk to yours, too?" Yang asked.

I blinked. "Yeah, I suppose I do…" I trailed off.

She gave me a slight smile before leaning her head against my shoulder.

"Actually, you guys probably don't need to see what's next." I said, fast-forwarding a few hours.

 **I stopped running and sat down, pulling out mom's silver rose. "Well mom, looks like I was right…" I said. "I'm not gonna make it off Reach…" I paused. "It's gone… and there's a covvie battlecruiser that's gonna glass me any minute."**

"Wait, WHAT?!" Yang shouted.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that was their solution to infantry not being able to kill me."

"How did you-"

"I don't know." I interrupted. "I kinda wanna see for myself, so let's keep moving."

 **I looked up to see the ship in question charging its glassing beam directly on top of me. "See ya soon, mom…" Suddenly, a blinding white light enveloped the space around me.**

"Pause!" Weiss shouted, causing me to do so. "You said you didn't know what sent you?" She asked, receiving a nod. "Well, look _here_." She made a circle around a seemingly empty section of screen.

I blinked. "Wait a minute…" I said, noticing a faint blue circle in the screen. "Is that a portal?" I asked.

"Possibly." She said. "If anything, _you're_ the expert, here."

"Huh…" I let out, dumbfounded. "Well, that's the last I saw of Reach, how much more do you guys wanna see?" I asked.

"When we met," Blake started. "you said you fell from orbit. Does that mean that you've seen Remnant from-"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Her bow twitched in curiosity. "Can we…?" She trailed off.

I looked to my other two teammates, who each adorned similar looks. "Alright." I said, fast-forwarding to a place where Remnant would be visible.

 **I was apparently still unconscious as Remnant slowly spun into view. The shattered moon was currently eclipsed by the planet, and not visible. A thick crescent of light showed the mountains of eastern Sanus, the west having disappeared below the horizon. On the dark side, a very small cluster of bright lights could be seen in one area of the world, Mistral, I assume.**

"…Woah…" My sister let out, echoing everyone's thoughts.

I smiled. "Take a good long look, ladies." I said. "Because _this_ is what you're fighting for."

They each stared for minutes at a time as the planet slowly rotated beneath them. Eventually, each adopted a look of determination.

"Over fifty-million people live down there." Yang observed.

"We won't let them down." Weiss said.

Blake stayed silent, though her face told of how she was behind them 100%.

* * *

(A/N) And that's the conclusion! Lone Wolf is done, and Ruby is one no longer. I'll address a few things about the actual chapter here, but if you wanna skip to the epilogue, it'll be below.

Obviously I modified the last level quite a bit, but after playing through it several times, I realized that it just devolved into Bungie throwing Elite Generals at you 'til you died. Not only does this make no sense in-universe, but it also makes for a pretty boring story.

Yeah, I get that some people might not like the fact that Ruby was dual wielding turrets for a minute there, but honestly, a Spartan should (lore-wise) be able to do that. Also, in the death cutscene, Six dual wields an AR and a pistol, something which cannot be done in game, meaning _that_ particular argument is invalid. Plus, it's a reference to one of Monty's older works, so there's that.

About the flammable Brute… yeah, not sorry, lol. They're pretty combustible in Halo 3, so I figured "why not here, too?"

Also, the Giant Hunter is about as canonically possible as the giant Hunters from Halo Legends: The Duel. I was going to make it be a normal-sized one, but then I did a little testing on Reach and found out that there isn't enough room to have a sword fight on top of one. So yes, that Hunter exists solely to be fought atop.

* * *

Ruby B-312: The Fall of Reach

Epilogue

* * *

Months later; Patch Island

* * *

I sighed, looking at the pair of headstones standing in front of me.

 **Summer Rose**

 **1542AE – 1571AE**

 **Thus kindly, I scatter.**

* * *

 **Ruby Rose**

 **1566AE – 1571AE**

 **A Rose plucked too soon.**

Those two were there before we arrived, though mine now adorned a 'B312, Noble Six' etched below the epitaph. Looking to my left, I saw the new additions to the Rose graveyard.

 **Carter 'Bossman' Rose**

 **2520CE – 2552CE**

 **He lost brothers and sisters by the hundreds, gave his life so two may live.**

 **A259, Noble One.**

* * *

 **Catherine 'Kat' Rose**

 **2530CE – 2552CE**

 **Lost an arm and fought on, as deadly with a keystroke as she was with a pistol.**

 **B320, Noble Two.**

* * *

 **Jun 'Eagle Eye' Rose**

 **2524CE – 2552CE**

 **True fate unknown, likely deceased. Unseen on the battlefield, his rifle always announced the death of an enemy.**

 **A266, Noble Three.**

* * *

 **Emile 'Knifey' Rose**

 **2524CE – 2552CE**

 **Gave his life so Humanity could survive. Took his assailant with him.**

 **A239, Noble Four.**

* * *

 **Jorge 'Jorgie' Rose**

 **2511CE – 2552CE**

 **Sacrificed himself to save his home. Will always be remembered as the giant with a heart of gold.**

 **052, Noble Five.**

Each of their tombstones also adorned a stone replica of their helmets; Weiss's gift to them in her absence. I picked up the final headstone and placed it beside mine.

 **Lisette 'Red' Rose**

 **2532CE – 2545CE**

 **A child sent to war, she sacrificed herself so her sister may live.**

 **B276, Honorary Noble Seven.**

Her helmet was, unfortunately, less detailed than the rest of Noble Team's, as there was no footage to give to the sculptors. Though, like them, it adorned the same rose emblem that mine and mom's graves did. I gave a small smile that my adoptive sister finally had a place to rest after all these years.

I stepped back in line with Yang and Blake, who were both dressed in black, matching me, and wielding their rifles.

"Left face!" I ordered. After they obeyed, I continued. "Present arms!" They hoisted their weapons up and aimed them over the cliff. "Fire!"

 **-Bang-**

"Fire!"

 **-Bang-**

"Fire!"

 **-Bang-**

I paused. "At ease." I said, causing them to readjust their grips to more comfortable positions. "Well, that's about all we can do with what we have." I said, giving my teammates a smile. "Thank you guys, this means a lot to me."

"No problem, Ruby." Blake said.

"Yeah, what she said." My sister responded. "But uhh… you think they'd be fine with you putting 'Rose' on their graves?"

"We're brothers and sisters in arms. I'd consider them as much my family as you or dad, and I'm sure they felt the same way."

Suddenly, my father burst through the treeline. "I heard gunshots, what's wrong?" He said, fists clenched.

"Nothing, dad…" I sighed. "Just… saying goodbye to some old friends…"

His eyes trailed behind me, spotting the graves. "Oh…" He said. "Do you need a minute?"

I shook my head. "No, we just got done."

He solemnly nodded. "Okay." He said. "Supper's almost ready by the way. And I was thinking we could play Remnant: The Game afterwards."

Yang threw me a, for once, confident grin. "Oh, I'm so gonna kick your butt, sis."

I smiled in return. "We'll see about that."

* * *

(A/N) I'd been trying to work a Noble Team funeral into the story for a while when I started FoR, but I never really got around to it. Now seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.

I know some people will be mad that I had Ruby posthumously adopt Noble Team as her family, but I think it fits with how I've described Spartans as a whole, aka, brothers and sisters to the end (or past it, in this case). And Ruby probably thinks that they deserve a place to rest, even if its only symbolic and doesn't _actually_ contain their bodies.

Now its time for the last reviews of this fic! And boy were there a _lot_ last chapter.

 **TheFishKing said – "You have still yet to explain who John-117 is to the rest of RWBY, the fact that he is the BEST SPATIAN can not be understated to the girls, also give 117 Agent Texas achievement of ripping out a skull and beating a man to death with it, but have it so Ruby was there and saw it"**

…Yeah… not my brightest moment… Though I _did_ go back and update that chapter with a few paragraphs at the end to fix this… …sans the Tex moment, though.

 **Guest 001 said – "There was an AI chip in the tube in the game!"**

Actually, if you look at the in-game model… no there isn't… It's just a blue light. One very disappointing blue light.

 **Guest 002 asked – "Why did Ruby tell Weiss to look away from the screen they jumped from the Zpelican!?"**

If you go all the way back to whatever chapter I did 'Tip of the Spear' in, you'll notice that Weiss gets VR sick. This was kind of a stupid flaw I gave her and probably won't be mentioned outside this fic… simply because when the fuck is it gonna come up again?

 **JimmyHall24 said – "So beautiful"**

Thanks!

 **Guest 003 said – "Emile actually said "'Cruiser' to the east" not "'crevice' to the east"!"**

Honestly, I have no idea where you got this idea. The transcripts say 'Crevice' and to me, that's exactly what it sounds like. So, no. He says: "Crevice to the east."

 **Guest 004 asked – "What happened at Skopje!?"**

Yeah, probably should've answered that in the first iteration. That's part of the update I did to last chapter. Don't worry, its easy to find. Literally right above the (A/N).

 **Artyon-Dreizehn said – "So her ending willl be so badass that an orbital bombardment or Glassing beam is needed just to stop her. Man, that's what i'm always imagine or wish when you kill thousands of Covies in the game but the game doesn't tsk! or even in some fanfics."**

Ikr? Sure, Six got a good death by fighting to the last ounce of strength he had, but that would've been so much cooler if you managed to survive for over, say, an hour or so. Good luck getting that far, though.

 **Shadow Walker of Fire said – "Great chapter. Yeah I realized that my last review was redundant and I forgot that scarab in 'Long Night of Solace' it didn't leave a big impression. I got game AI fail too: I was playing custom firefight with elites with UNSC weapons, last two, elite 1 had a shotgun and elite 2 had sniper, I used evade to get away from E1 just as E2 fired and killed E1, I was so busy laughing, E2 came up and kill me from behind. Luckily I had more lives."**

Thanks! Its always funny to hear about random AI fails. Kinda reminds me of one of my more memorable ones that actually turned out to be an AI win. I'd gone into a bubble shield at some point and a Grunt decided to try and stick me with a grenade, only it bounced back and stuck itself. It then proceeded to run _into_ the bubble shield and explode, killing me. This was years ago, but it was so memorable that it's actually stuck with me that long.

 **Irdchief said – "cortana did say stuff in the legendary endkmg, it goes something like this; Keys: what im saying Cortana, is did thy make it out? Cortana: oh i think we both know the answer to that, as the Autumn apporaches 04"**

Yeah, I knew about that, I was more talking about doing something like I did and having Cortana give a 'thanks for the ride' or something to Six.

 **Herpaderp1028 said – "I see that sergeant Johnson refrence good on you good on you"**

What can I say? He makes the covvies regret being alien bastards.

 **Spartastic 4 said – "Well now... only Lone Wolf left. Can't wait to see how it's done and everyones reaction to Ruby getting 'Glassed.' But will you finish ASH first before the second volume of B-312 or along side of it?"**

Yeah hope you enjoyed! And, although it was my original plan to finish ASH before the main story resumed, I'll finish it while V2 is running.

 **Red october 700 said – "A Brutal Ruby huh, Some whare in hell a demon sits ram rod straight and looks at the doom slayers crypt wondering if he some how got lose and prays to God almighty on the poor bastards sole. Lol I honestly could not resist that little bit of DOOM. Think about it, She is going to be slaughtering all the things. Demon sertainly does fit but when demon is to light of a title, the only thing left aside from devil is the doom slayer which Satan himself is scared of. Again could not resist. Wait, Ruby met John at some point? Where and when and is thier going to be a short for this infoe? If not thier needs to be, if their is, you can count me exited and cant wait till it comes. And magic fence is magic.**

Funnily enough with the Doom reference, after the Hunter scene, I started listening to "Hell to Pay" by Miracle of Sound while writing it. Not so much a short, and more of an edit to the previous chapter. I might do a flashback at some point in the main story, but not here. For a minute, I considered bringing it up in ASH, but I quickly realized that none of the Spartans would've been able to meet Ruby before the Spirit left for Arcadia. Indeed, magic fences are the best.

 **Dovah117 – "So Ruby met Cortana for a shot time, didnt expect it but its welcomed it, so WBY are finally going to see the Reaper of Draco? Man I really didnt survive a lot in that mission, i manage to do 6 or 10 minutea before dying, they really throw everything at you in that level, so with the next chapter the main history continue? Great! Am really expecting what its going to happen! And also waiting for the Mother and daugther reunion! I really hope for that, and Johnson will probably be in the same reasoning with Weiss about Spartans and their fallings, we have Halo 3 first scene to prove that"**

Yeah, thought it'd be a nice little addition to the story. And yeah, they certainly met the Reaper, though she didn't use a scythe… yet. I'm about the same for survival length on that mission, I'd find it more enjoyable if they swarmed you with hordes of normal enemies instead of only Elite Generals at the end, but eh. V2C1 should be ready next week, It's not _quite_ ready now, but its close. Glad you're excited, though!

* * *

And that's all for this fic! Thank you guys for reading, and I hope to see you all in Volume 2 of the main story as well as A Summer's Harvest!

GreenTheRyno, signing off.


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